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r\ STRONG SOUL, by what shore 
^* Tarriest thou now? For that force, 

Surely, has not been left vain! 

Somewhere, surely, afar, 

In the sounding labor-house vast 

Of being, is practiced that strength, 

Zealous, beneficent, firm! 

Yes, in some far-shining sphere, 
Conscious or not of the past, 
Still thou performest the Word 
Of the Spirit in whom thou dost live, 
Prompt, unwearied, as here. 
Still thou upraisest with zeal 
The humble good from the ground, 
Sternly repressest the bad; 
Still, like a trumpet, dost rouse 
Those who with half-open eyes 
Tread the border-land dim 
'Twixt vice and virtue; reviv'st, 
Succorest. This was thy work, 
This was thy life upon earth.— 

"Rugby Chapel, " — Matthew Arnold. 








•4--; 






«£J W 



LIVES OF 

Franklin Plato Eller 

■ and : 

John Carlton Eller 



BY 



J. B. HUBBELL 




Privately Printed MCMX 






Copyrighted in the name of 

A. H. ELLER 

1910 



The Seeman Printery 
Durham, N. C. 



583730 



LIVES OF 

FRANKLIN PLATO ELLER 

AND 

JOHN CARLTON ELLER 



Dedicated to their Father and Mother 

who 

for four-score years have been laying up treasures in 

that beautiful city not made with hands and 

whose eyes were fixed upon the golden 

gate even before their loved 

ones passed within its 

WALLS, 

By the Author. 



Oable of Contents 



PAGE 

Foreword to the Reader 9 

Introductory Sketch. 

Franklin Plato Filer 11 

Introductory Sketch. 

John Carlton Filer 25 

Introduction to Letters and Tributes 44 

Tributes and Letters Pertaining to the Life and 

Character of F. Plato Eller 45 

Tributes and Letters Pertaining to the Life and 

Character of John C. Eller 58 

Introduction to the Writings and Speeches of Plato 

Eller 89 

"Institutions the Result of Growth" 92 

"Our Retiring President" 98 

"The Dialectic Society" 101 

Debate on the Electoral College 103 

Debate on Home Rule for the Irish 112 

Debate on the Eastern Question 128 

"A Brief Review of Scholasticism" 135 

Introduction to the Writings and Speeches of John 

Eller 145 

"Man's Inhumanity to Man" 147 

"What is Morality." a Thesis 154 

"A Plea for American Commerce" 171 

Debate on Rigid Party Organization 177 

Debate on Dangers of Centralization 189 

"The Origin and Rise of Government," A Thesis. . 198 

The College Fraternity 211 

Articles from the "White and Blue" 216 

Poems : "Melancholia," "The Doubter" 221, 222 

The Modern Chivalry ; an Essay 222 

Class Farewell 228 

The Brothers, 

An Elegy, by Leonard Van Noppen 231 

Appendix. 

The College Record of John and Plato Eller. .244, 245 



Oable of THlustraUotts, 



The Home, Berlin Frontispiece is 

The Brothers (in youth) - - - Page 24- 25 ^ 

Alpha Theta Phi Badge - " 74 t 

F. P. Eller 88- 89 </ 

Hall of Dialectic Society - " 101-102 s 

John Carlton Eller " 144-145 1/ 

University of North Carolina - - " 230-231 \ 



^oreworo to t^e 3\eader 

The purpose of this volume is not to glorify, but to 
commemorate, not to encourage unseemly family pride, 
but to preserve the memory of those who were noble 
and true. It has been more than seventeen years 
since the death of Plato Eller and more than thirteen 
since that of his brother John ; but they have not been 
forgotten ; time has not dimmed the recollection of 
their lives in the minds of those who knew them. We 
remember their unselfishness, their manliness, the glo- 
rious promise of their youth, their heroic struggle for 
the highest and noblest in life; and we wish all who 
bear the family name and yet never knew them as 
their loved ones knew them, to learn their story, so 
strangely sweet and sad, to know the best that they 
wrote and thought, and, like them, to live lives that 
shall reflect only honor upon the name which they 
bore. And this is why, after more than a decade of 
seeming forgetfulness, we would lay this tribute dedi- 
cated to their memory as a tardily woven wreath of 
flowers upon the graves of those that we love. 

It was long the purpose of their older brother, Mr. 
A. H. Eller, to prepare such a volume; but the cares 
of a busy life and the too poignant recollection of the 
last sad hours spent with them upon earth were too 
great to permit his undertaking the task. And per- 
haps it is best that the work should be brought to com- 
pletion by one who, although a near relative of the 
deceased, is a native of another State, and hence never 
knew them. He has undertaken the study of their 
lives in much the same manner in which he would 
undertake a study of any man whom he had never 
known. His connection with the University with 
which they were so intimately connected as students 



10 FRANKLIN PLATO ELLER 

has been that of a teacher. This has given a signifi- 
cance to many incidents in their lives that would be 
almost meaningless to others ; and he hopes that it has 
enabled him to avoid, by a constant comparison with 
the achievements of other students, an exaggerated 
estimate of their ability and attainments. It has been 
his purpose to construct from their manuscripts, the 
various college publications, the letters of friends and 
relatives, and the recollections of those who knew 
them a sympathetic and yet impartial account of their 
lives. In no case has he drawn upon his imagination 
to adorn or complete the story ; and in no instance has 
he, to the best of his knowledge, made a single state- 
ment or implication which cannot be conclusively 
shown to be true. Yet the preparation of this volume 
has been truly a "labor of love" and sympathy; for it 
is only three years since he lost, struck down by the 
cold hand of Death, a brother who, like those of whom 
he has written here, was strong in character and full 
of the promise of a glorious manhood, and who bore 
the name of these his uncles, Eller Henry Hubbell. 

On behalf of the entire family, I wish to thank all — 
and they are many — who have assisted in the comple- 
tion of this work. Their assistance is all the more 
appreciated because many things have been forgotten 
since the preparation of this volume was first contem- 
plated and because this preparation was necessarily 
completed in a very limited period of time. They may 
rest assured that the remembrance of what they have 
done will live so long as the memory of the lamented 
young men, the story of whose lives is here told, is 
cherished in the hearts of all who loved them. 

Jay Broadus Hubbell. 

Red House, Virginia, September 18, 1909. 



JOHN CARLTON ELLER 11 

Introductory Sketcl) 



Franklin Plato Eller. 

On October 24, 1849, James Eller, of German and 
Scotch descent, was married to Mary Ann Carlton, of 
English descent. They lived at New Hope, Wilkes 
County, North Carolina, until October, 1865, when he 
sold his farm and moved with his family across the Blue 
Ridge Mountains into the adjoining county of Ashe. 
The War had just closed, leaving the county in an ap- 
palling condition of poverty and disorganization. Al- 
though himself unable on account of ill health to bear 
arms, Mr. Eller had risked his life repeatedly in the 
discharge of duties placed upon him by the State, 
which had entrusted to him the distribution of supplies 
to the families of soldiers in active service. As the 
War drew to a close, many of the mountaineers, hav- 
ing no personal interests at stake and caring nothing 
for the principles involved, deserted their commands 
and, returning to their homes, organized bands of 
"bushwhackers" for the purpose of robbing and ter- 
rorizing honest and loyal citizens. Since he was in 
honor bound to withhold supplies from the families of 
deserters, Mr. Eller became a marked man. His house 
and farm were plundered again and again, even while 
he was dangerously ill with typhoid fever; and the 
lives of his wife and children were endangered not 
once, but many times. More than once the "bush- 
whackers" came to his home with the avowed intention 
of killing him, and but for the unflinching devotion of 
a slave who, with a dozen muskets firing at a target 



12 FRANKLIN PLATO ELLER 

held in his hand, refused to betray his master's hiding 
place, they would, doubtless, have succeeded in their 
aim. After the close of the War Mr. Eller declared 
that he could no longer endure to live among men 
whose actions had shown such an utter disregard for 
the principles that were dearer than life to him. 

His new home was situated at Berlin, near the 
junction of Horse Creek with the North Fork of New 
River in the extreme northwestern corner of the State. 
For natural beauty and variety of scenery and wonder- 
ful fertility of soil this section of the State is without 
a superior in the South. The following description 
taken from "A Mountain Sketch/'written by John 
Eller at the beginning of his Sophomore year at the 
State University, does not in any particular exaggerate 
the truth : 

"The streams of Western North Carolina are the 
most defiant of truants ; laughingly they leap down their 
mountain sides and break away from their native 
state through rugged rock and lofty mountain top to 
pay tribute to the 'Father of Waters.' And of these 
one of the most elusive and petulant is New River, 
rising in Watauga and saucily winding its way through 
Ashe and Alleghany into Virginia and emptying into 
the Great Kanawha. . . . 

"Before us is spread out one vast panorama of 
mountain, hill, and valley alternating with river, creek, 
and rill. The scene is constantly varying as the shad- 
ows chase each other over field and forest and the 
clouds mantle the crests of the distant mountains in 
an extraordinary maze of lovely light. One ever- 
changing, variegated mosaic of animated color is pre- 
sented to the eye. The dark green of the primeval 
forest gently softens into the lighter colors of grass 



JOHN CARLTON ELLER 13 

and grain; grey bluffs, crowned with pine and laurel, 
overlook transparent waters whose glassy surface is 
Nature's true mirror, save when it leaps and swirls 
into a thousand fantastic colors and forms, everchang- 
ing and yet the same. . . . 

"The people of this region seem to partake of that 
independence displayed by their mountain streams. 
It is a sturdy yeomanry, rugged and strong in its sim- 
plicity, but terrible when aroused to a sense of injus- 
tice and wrong. King's Mountain was won by this 
class of people; and many incidents are yet preserved 
in their traditions worthy a place with those recorded 
of the noble Greek or the heroic Swiss." 

At Berlin were born the two subjects of this sketch, 
Franklin Plato and John Carlton Eller. They were 
the youngest of Mr. Eller's seven children who reached 
maturity, six boys and one girl. The greatest desire 
of Mr. Eller and his wife, in striking contrast with the 
parental ambitions of most of their neighbors, was to 
see their children all well educated. In the "hard 
times" which followed the War this was an undertak- 
ing of the greatest difficulty. We who live at a time 
when any young man of intelligence and determination 
can educate himself do not realize how difficult it actu- 
ally was. A long and bitter War, leaving devastation 
and ruin in its wake, had just closed only to be fol- 
lowed by the black era of the Reconstruction, which 
blighted the hopes of the brave people for a speedy 
recovery from the effects of the War and almost im- 
poverished the State. The State system of public 
schools was one of the poorest in the Union. Schools 
of every description, from the public school to the 
University, were few, inefficient, and expensive. It 
was almost impossible for the average young man to 



14 FRANKLIN PLATO ELLER 

obtain either the money or the preparation necessary 
to enter a school of high standing. This was especially 
true of the mountain section in which Mr. Eller lived. 
His own health was very poor. His home was forty- 
five miles from the nearest railroad; and it was only 
with the greatest difficulty that farm products could 
be hauled over the rough mountain roads to a market. 

Others would have given up ; it was not so with him 
and his devoted wife. By his own efforts, aided by 
the assistance of an intelligent father, he had in a 
measure made amends for the lack of a systematic 
education in himself; and this enabled him to direct 
his children in their studies at home. Being an intel- 
ligent and discriminating reader himself, he encour- 
aged them to read not many books, but good books and 
to read carefully and thoughtfully. 

His only daughter, Ruth (since married to D. S. 
Hubbell, a Baptist minister of Virginia), was sent for 
a year to a boarding school and then to a woman's 
college in Bristol; and she, in turn, stimulated and 
directed the intellectual aspirations of her younger 
brothers. All of the boys were sent off to school, most 
of them to Moravian Falls Academy, near Wilkesboro; 
but since it was impossible that all of them should go 
to college, three, Augustus, Sidney, and Cicero, volun- 
tarily relinquished their desires for a University edu- 
cation and turned their attention to business and prac- 
tical affairs that others might have the opportunities 
which could not be given to all. 

In 1881 Adolphus Hill Eller, after a course at the 
Moravian Falls Academy, entered the University of 
North Carolina. He graduated in 1885, making, in 
spite of adverse circumstances, a creditable record, not 
only as a student, but as a speaker and writer as well. 



JOHN CARLTON ELLER 15 

After his graduation he studied law and began a suc- 
cessful career in the practice of his profession in 
Winston-Salem. 

"Plato" and ''Johnnie," as they were known at 
home, from their earliest years were bent on follow- 
ing in their brother's footsteps in the pursuit of an 
education. Even as children they did not place the 
usual exaggerated estimate upon the possession of 
toys and money, but spent their pocket change for 
books and gave their spare moments to reading and 
speaking. Gradually they accumulated a very neat and 
select little library, still preserved with tender care by 
their parents, consisting chiefly of historical writings, 
orations, poetry, and fiction. The numerous notes and 
scrapbooks which they left show the remarkable indus- 
try and intelligence with which they worked. John 
was an omnivorous reader, devouring eagerly every 
book that he could find. Plato, on the other hand, 
from the first, cared nothing for mere learning or for 
the lighter kinds of literature, and confined his reading 
chiefly to writing that stimulated thought. Nearly 
all of his books are therefore works on history, polit- 
ical economy, oratory, and philosophy. We find a 
copy of Guizot's "History of Civilization," with his 
name inside, dated 1886. Few young men care for 
such heavy reading at seventeen. Most of this read- 
ing was carried on under disadvantages, on days when 
little could be done on the farm or at night after a hard 
day's work in the field or store. 

In 1887 Plato entered the Moravian Falls Academy. 
He at once joined the Philomathic Literary Society 
and participated eagerly in all its transactions. As a 
boy he had tramped for miles over hills covered with 
snow and across rivers filled with ice for a chance to 



16 FRANKLIN PLATO ELLER 

speak at a debate. And his success as a speaker had 
been equal to his determination to succeed. More 
than once, we are told, he and a friend had challenged 
the entire club to speak against them, and they had 
never failed to hold their own. At Moravian Falls he 
was recognized as an able debater; and the logic and 
fire of his debates there would do credit to many a 
more experienced speaker. At the end of the session 
he delivered an oration on "The Necessity of Concen- 
tration of Thought and Labor." The title is signifi- 
cant, for it shows that thus early he was directing all 
his energies to the attainment of a definite ideal, which 
until his death he pursued with unswerving singleness 
of purpose. His one ambition was to be able, by force 
of intellect, power of personality, and nobility of char- 
acter, to master men for the advancement of truth 
and righteousness. The devotion to this ideal which 
his life henceforth was to show is seen in the follow- 
ing extract from the oration mentioned above : "While 
in school, make it an aim of your life to enter with 
your whole soul into your study ; and then when these 
scenes here are exchanged for those of your future 
calling, have an eye single for the leadership of some 
occupation. 'In the vocabulary of youth which fate 
reserves for a noble manhood there should be no such 
word as fail.' " 

In August, 1889, Plato entered the Freshman Class 
of the University of North Carolina. Here, as at the 
Academy, he never allowed outside interests or the 
demands of class work to swerve him from the one 
purpose of his life. At first he gave most of his time 
to his text-books, and for the first year his grades were, 
in spite of a comparatively hurried preparation, very 
creditable indeed. But he never cared a straw for 



JOHN CARLTON ELLER 17 

high grades or for mere learning as such. On his 
monthly report for May, 1891, we find the following, 
written by some member of the University Faculty : 
"Works so hard on preparing speeches that he impairs 
text-book work. Very successful speaker." In the 
class work which he found directly useful for his pur- 
pose he did well ; his grades on English and History 
are uniformly excellent. In some others he was con- 
tent with merely passing; he was concentrating his 
thought and attention on things that were, to him, of 
much greater importance. 

In accordance with the long established custom 
that students from the western part of the State should 
join the Dialectic Society and those from the eastern 
half the Philanthropic, Plato had joined the former 
and become a faithful and enthusiastic member. 

He was still an incessant reader of the same kind of 
books that had interested him as a boy. As a thinker 
he was, so one of his college acquaintances, now a 
prominent lawyer in one of the first cities of the State, 
says of him, "the peer of any man in the University," 
and he was so regarded by both faculty and students. 
Whenever he rose to speak upon any topic, he had the 
undivided attention of all, for they knew that so far as 
thought and investigation could go he had exhausted 
it; and it was this assurance of the right combined 
with the deepest earnestness that gave his words a 
power rarely felt in the speeches of undergraduates. 

The confidence which students and faculty placed in 
him was remarkable. One of his bosom friends, a 
leader in the class above him, says ; "We led the stu- 
dent body with us. Our views were always the same, 
and because he espoused and championed them I al- 
ways believed we were right. Although he never strug- 



18 FRANKLIN PLATO ELLER 

gled for college honors, he obtained unsought almost 
every honor in the power of his class and society to 
give. He was twice representative of the Dialectic 
Society in an inter-society debate ; he was the president 
of the Society; he was elected first editor of the Uni- 
versity Magazine from his Society for 1892-3 ; he was 
elected first representative of his society for the inter- 
society oratorical contest at the Commencement of 
1892 ; and he was for three years president of his 
class, '93, an honor which he still held at his death. 
Besides these, he was the winner of the Best Debater's 
Medal in the Di Society in his Sophomore year, an 
honor which few but Juniors and Seniors contested 
for. That his head was not turned by these honors 
and that he never lost his simplicity of manner and 
sympathetic interest in those less fortunate, we have 
the unanimous testimony of his college friends to 
show. 

During his first vacation Plato worked on his fath- 
er's farm, still continuing to read late at night in spite 
of the fatigue that necessarily followed nine months 
of sedentary life. In the next summer, the last he 
ever spent at home, he was principal of the Liberty 
Hill Academy at Nathan's Creek, in Ashe County. In 
this summer also he delivered the commencement ad- 
dress at Belle View Academy, in Alleghany County. 
Local tradition still preserves the memory of this 
speech; and competent judges, men who had heard the 
greatest of North Carolina orators, have, long since 
then, not hesitated to affirm that they never heard a 
more eloquent address or saw a speaker more com- 
pletely master his audience. 

During this summer he was necessarily away from 
home a great part of the time, a fact which his parents 



JOHN CARLTON ELLER 19 

have ever since regretted because this was his last 
summer at home. He too, although he did not men- 
tion it, seems to have felt that this might be the last. 
And the following poem of Tennyson, in a copy of 
that Poet's works belonging to the family, is marked 
by him in a way that indicates a depth of emotion on 
his part akin to a premonition that he would never 
again see his relatives and his home by the side of the 
beautiful river that he loved: 

"Flow down, cold rivulet, to the sea, 
Thy tribute wave deliver: 
No more by thee my steps shall be, 
Forever and forever. 

"Flow, softly flow, by lawn and lea, 
A rivulet then a river: 
Nowhere by thee my steps shall be, 
Forever and forever. 

"But here will sigh thine alder- tree, 
And here thine aspen shiver; 
And here by thee will hum the bee, 
Forever and forever. 

"A thousand suns will stream on thee, 
A thousand moons will quiver; 
But not by thee my step shall be, 
Forever and forever." 

The subject of the oration which Plato prepared for 
the oratorical contest at the close of his Junior year 
was "Institutions the Result of Growth." His choice 
of the subject was the result of an investigation under- 
taken for Professor H. H. Williams. The investiga- 
tion was to lead to a thesis on "The Law of Growth." 
The thesis was never finished, and the oration, though 
completed and later printed in pamphlet form, was des- 



20 FRANKLIN PLATO ELLER 

tined never to be delivered. The work which Plato 
gave to the preparation of this speech was probably in 
no small degree the cause of the illness which resulted 
in his death. Late in May he was seized with what 
was supposed to be only an obstinate case of malaria. 
His brother, A. H. Eller, was summoned from Win- 
ston when it was found that he did not improve; and 
it was soon found that he was suffering from an attack 
of typhoid fever. 

His brother procured the best medical attention ob- 
tainable and remained constantly at his bedside. While 
Plato was lying ill, the Commencement began and the 
oratorical contest in which he was to participate came 
off. It had been generally conceded that he would win 
the Medal ; and, indeed, President Winston, in explain- 
ing the absence of the first speaker on the program, 
said that Plato Eller was "the best speaker in the Uni- 
versity." But no word of murmuring or complaint 
escaped his lips. An intimate friend, also a contestant 
for the Medal, says : "I remember how he wished to 
hear my oration, saying nothing of the inability to 
deliver his own." The Medal was won by Mr. F. C. 
Harding, a member of the Philanthropic Society and 
a close friend of Plato. The victor in the contest took 
the beautiful trophy to the bedside of his friend and in 
words that show at once his high opinion of Plato as 
a speaker and the unselfishness of his own character, 
said : "Here, Eller, this is yours ; you would have won 
it if you could have spoken that speech." 

There is no need to prolong the sad story further. 
In spite of the careful attention of physician and 
nurses, in spite of the unceasing prayers of relatives 
and friends, which at one time seemed so nearly an- 
swered, the disease, so fatal to the robust people of the 



JOHN CARLTON ELLER 21 

mountains, resulted in death. The course of the fever 
once seemed broken, but blood poisoning and other 
complications set in, and the ravages of the disease 
could not be checked. Plato Eller died in his room in 
the Old South Building, on Wednesday, June 15, 1892, 
in the twenty-third year of his age. Mr. A. H. Eller, 
accompanied by a classmate of the deceased, Mr. How- 
ard E. Rondthaler, now President of Salem Academy 
and College, removed the body to his father's home in 
Ashe County. Air. Rondthaler officiated at the burial 
services, and nobly endeavored to comfort the heart- 
broken father and mother of his friend. 

The keenness of the grief of the parents, brothers, 
and sister, can be understood only by those who, like 
them, have "loved and lost." It is always sad to see 
death, no matter what be the guise in which he comes 
or what poor mortal the victim of his dart; but never 
so sad, in the language of Edgar Allan Poe, as when 
his coming blights the life of the young and beautiful. 
"It seems such a waste," a friend wrote twelve years 
ago; and the pity of it has only grown greater since 
then, for, had he lived, he wxrnld now be in the full 
flower of usefulness and strength. His parents had 
struggled as few parents have struggled to give their 
son the means of an education. Their own unrealized 
ambitions had become entwined with his, and now they 
beheld him, so young and so talented, so strong and so 
true, at one fell stroke laid low in the dust. Had it 
been permitted, they would have chosen rather that 
the death-angel should have taken them in his stead. 
But the one who found it hardest to realize that Plato 
Eller was dead with all his brilliant promise unfulfilled, 
was his brother John, so soon to show the same bril- 



22 FRANKLIN PLATO ELLER 

liant promise and share the same sad fate. He felt as 
Tennyson felt when he wrote after the death of one 
whom the aged Gladstone declared to have been the 
most promising of all young men he had ever known : 

"So many worlds, so much to do, 
So little done, such things to be, 
How know I what had need of thee, 
For thou wert strong as thou wert true ? " 

All who attended the burial recall the picture of his 
strong young form standing alone at the grave as all 
the rest sadly and slowly descended the hill to the 
grief-stricken home. 

Upon the devoted brother who had tended him in 
his last illness the blow, too, was heavy. He had 
helped him through college with encouragement, ad- 
vice, and money, and was looking forward to the day 
when he should be associated with him in the practice 
of his profession. He had believed that with his 
endowments of character and talent he would one 
day be a leader in the nation. He has since then 
repeatedly said that Plato was the most gifted member 
of the family. "Johnnie," said he, "had the culture, 
the brilliancy, and the versatility of the family, but 
Plato had the intellect; he would have made a great 
man." 

This opinion was shared by all who knew him. An 
upper classman who knew him well said seven years 
after his death : "He was the soul of honor and a man 
of much power and ability; he would certainly have 
been a useful citizen had God spared him. I always 
thought that he would make a great mark in the State ; 
the faculty and entire student body thought so, too; 
and everybody respected him." Another college 



JOHN CARLTON ELLER 23 

friend, now one of the ablest lawyers in the State, said 
recently to the writer that Plato Eller had the finest 
mind for grasping, applying, and vitalizing abstract 
truths that he had ever seen. He would have made, he 
thinks with many others, a great statesman or constitu- 
tional lawyer. This opinion was shared by the Presi- 
dent of the University, as the following letter written 
by him to A. H. Eller will show : 

Chapel Hill, N. C, June 24, 1892. 

My Dear Mr. Eller: — I cannot tell you how I was grieved 
and shocked when I heard of the death of your brother. . . . 

Your brother had won my esteem and affection. I had 
watched him very closely, and I regarded him as the most 
promising man in the University. He was not the best scholar 
nor the best student; but in all the strong and admirable qual- 
ities of manhood which are essential to true greatness and to 
lasting success, he was as highly gifted as any young man I 
ever knew. 

His death is a deep blow to me. The University will greatly 
miss him, even as a student. I had always believed that he 
would one day be a great state, and even a national, leader. 

This wound has cut your heart, I know full well. And your 
dear Father and Mother — may God in his infinite mercy give 
them strength to bear it. My heart is bleeding with you. I 
cannot understand it. I only know that wherever he is, he is 
still a pure, manly, lofty spirit, aspiring to the noblest heights 
and making better and happier those around him. 

I am, sir, with sincere and profound sorrow, 

Your friend, 

Geo. T. Winston. 

If such was the sorrow of a friend, what must have 
been that of those still dearer to him? 

The above letter is quoted in this connection not 
merely because of the estimate of Plato's character 



24 FRANKLIN PLATO ELEER 

and talents which it contains, but rather because it 
represents admirably the true Christian attitude toward 
death. Although Plato was never a member of any 
church, no fears were entertained for his hereafter. 
His was a pure, earnest, unselfish life, the purpose of 
which was not self-advancement, but the uplifting of 
humanity and the dissemination of knowledge and 
truth; and if, in the words of John Charles McNeill, 
heaven refuses such as he, then 

"life is 
A tragedy indeed." 

As an instance of the unselfishness of his character, 
we quote the following sentence from a letter of sym- 
pathy and encouragement written to his brother Cicero 
only a few months before his own death: "I wish I 
could divide some of my health and vigor with you." 

A college friend writes: "His heart was pure and 
his life blameless ; I have no fears for his future." 

After reading what has been said by those who knew 
him, no one will, we trust, think the following inscrip- 
tion upon the monument erected over the grave of him 
whose memory we still love and cherish other than just 
and true : 

"At the close of his third year at the 
University, while enjoying the highest 
honors in the gift of his Class and Society 
and the admiration and affection of Fac- 
ulty and Student-body his pure, strong, 
noble soul passed away. 

"Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God." 







* 





JOHN CARLTON ELLER 25 

Untro&uctor? Sketch 



John Carlton Ellkr. 

Like his older brother, John Carlton Eller (named 
Carlton for his mother, Mary Ann Carlton) received 
his preparatory training at the Moravian Falls Acad- 
emy. In a local paper describing the Commencement 
he is mentioned as one of the six speakers who debated 
the question of Foreign Immigration. The corre- 
spondent adds : "The boys did very well, Mr. Eller 
deserving special mention for his concise and well 
expressed argument." 

In August, 1892, John entered the Freshman Class 
of the University of North Carolina. This class was 
an unusually large and brilliant one ; it numbered at this 
time one hundred and fifteen members, and it fur- 
nished more men to the Alpha Theta Phi Society than 
any other class up to '98, if not later. On January 19, 
1893, John was elected president of his class, an honor 
which, like his brother Plato, he was to hold each suc- 
ceeding year of his stay at the University. 

Although John must have thought many times of 
the brother who had longed for his companionship at 
school, and who would have been his guide and coun- 
selor in everything, he never allowed his personal sor- 
rows to cast a gloom over his relations with his fellows. 
Once in a letter to his parents in which he mentions 
very briefly and modestly his election to the class 
presidency, he writes thus: "I long to get home again 
and see the last tributes that have been paid to Plato. 
I know they are appropriate and give you all a great 



26 FRANKLIN PLATO ELLER 

deal of satisfaction. Yet it is such a grief to know 
that we must be without his presence on earth. Let 
us be content. The feeble eye of mortals cannot 
pierce the veil of eternity. One day that veil will be 
withdrawn, and we shall see the splendor of Heaven 
with the dear boy in its midst." 

Unlike Plato, John was ambitious to distinguish 
himself as a student; and from the first he won recog- 
nition as one of the best students in his class. On his 
report sent home at the end of the second term Presi- 
dent Winston writes : "Mr. Eller has made steady and 
very honorable progress. His record is exemplary in 
all respects." In the latter part of the book will be 
found a complete record of all his grades, copied from 
the records of the University. The improvement is 
marked, and it continues throughout his entire college 
course. But John never became a mere "grind." He 
studied hard and made a good record in his classes, as 
he wished to do; but he was just as deeply interested 
in many other things. The following transcript of 
his college career, taken from the Hellenian (class 
annual) for 1896, gives some conception of his versa- 
tility and popularity : 

"Eller, John Carlton, Berlin, N. C— 22 years; 165 
pounds ; 5 feet, 10 indies ; course Ph. B. ; law ; presi- 
dent of class 4 years ; representative Di Society Com- 
mencement 1894; representative Di Society inter- 
society debate 1895 ; Debater's Medal Di Society 
1895; Essayist's Medal Di Society 1895; Editor of 
"White and Blue" in 1894-95 ; Editor of "Tar Heel" 
in 1895-96; sub ball manager Commencement 1895; 
undergraduate member of advisory board of athletics 
1896; undergraduate honors in Freshman, Sophomore, 
Junior and Senior years; president of Alpha Theta 



JOHN CARLTON ELLER 21 

Phi ; Philosophical Club ; Shakespeare Club ; Historical 
Society ; Di." 

John's was almost an ideal record, as Plato's had 
been in a different way. Indeed they might be taken 
as typical of the two classes of successful college men. 
The one pursues a single ideal persistently and untir- 
ingly, caring nothing for what does not contribute to 
its attainment ; the other, in the joy he feels in the full 
development of all his faculties, would almost seem 
like Lord Bacon, to take "all knowledge" for his 
province, aiming rather at breadth than depth, at ver- 
satility rather than power. But the contrast must not 
lead us to suppose that the one lacked broad culture 
or the other earnestness of purpose. Plato's ideal was 
a broad one, and he came to see that almost every field 
of knowledge could be made to contribute something 
to its attainment; and John, in the midst of his many 
interests, came to feel a single purpose gradually dawn- 
ing upon him, embracing and relating to each other 
the many fields of endeavor that had attracted him. 

In temperament as in personal appearance, John 
resembled his father. He was jolly, affable and affec- 
tionate. Everybody loved him. He had an abundance 
of friends everywhere he went; and at the University 
he probably had as many as any young man who ever 
entered its doors. There w r ere many whose opinions 
on many subjects differed widely from his, who, 
nevertheless, in the words of one of them, now a 
professor in the University, thought him "a corking 
fine fellow ;" and some of the tenderest and most sym- 
pathetic tributes in this volume are from their hands. 
But the affection of his more intimate friends 
amounted to devotion ; and there are many who, in 
the words of an editor-in-chief of the "White and 



28 FRANKLIN PLATO ELLER 

Blue" to the writer, "thought the world of John 
Eller." 

My personal recollections of "Uncle Johnnie," as 
he was known to us of the younger generation, are 
very few, but those few are indelible. Two pictures 
in my mind stand out with vivid intensity. One is a 
picture of his stalwart figure at work in the wheat 
field, of the dinner at an old cabin by the river, and of 
his laugh as he spoke of his blistered hands. The 
other is a picture of the same stalwart figure, the face 
wearing an expression of tenderest sadness as he left 
home for the last time. He turned backward at the 
river, told me to give his love to my father when he 
came, cast a last look at "home," and was gone. 

As in the lives of most college men, there is not 
very much to record of John's Freshman year. About 
all that can be said of him here is that he was one of 
four or five to carry off undergraduate honors in the 
Freshman class — a pretty sure indication that he had 
passed safely through this critical period. When he 
becomes a Sophomore, however, John comes into 
prominence, for in this year the memorable anti- 
fraternity fight reached its highest point. 

In discussing this rather delicate question of frater- 
nities, the writer has no desire to revive old issues or 
to take sides with either party. His purpose is simply 
to discover the part which this series of events played 
in the life and development of John Carlton Eller. To 
those who are unfamiliar with college politics, it will 
all, perhaps, seem "a tempest in a tea-pot ;" but it is in 
such miniature contests as these that North Carolina's 
greatest statesmen have been trained — as the Duke of 
Wellington said while witnessing a football game at 



JOHN CARLTON ELLER 29 

Eton, "There is where the Battle of Waterloo was 
won." 

When he entered the University John had no preju- 
dice against college fraternities or secret orders of any 
description. His father and several of his older 
brothers were Masons and Odd Fellows, and one of 
his brothers, A. H. Eller, had been a member of one 
of the strongest fraternities in the University. John 
might, then, naturally have been expected to become a 
fraternity man. The reason why he was none was not 
that he was in any way different from his brothers, 
but that he believed that there had been a change in 
the nature of the fraternities themselves. His paper 
on "The College Fraternity," contained in this volume, 
states the issue clearly and forcibly as he and his non- 
fraternity friends saw it. They believed that they 
were not receiving their rights, and knowing that they 
numbered in their ranks many, if not most, of the 
ablest men in the University, they determined to fight 
till they won them. 

As a means of pressing the fight to a crisis, the non- 
fraternitymen, in the spring of 1894, began the publi- 
cation of a weekly paper. It was called "The White 
and Blue," white and blue being the University colors. 
The new paper was to be thoroughly representative of 
the true University spirit as its founders conceived it ; 
and it was to foster every worthy department of the 
University's life. This purpose is stated in an edito- 
rial for September 14, 1894: 

"We shall use our best endeavors to help the literary 
societies, the Glee Club, the Y. M. C. A. — everything 
pertaining to the University ; and in this the true Uni- 
versity spirit we ask those who have the University's 
interests at heart to lend us their undivided support." 



30 FRANKLIN PLATO ELLER 

From this it will be seen that the purpose of the 
paper was somewhat broader and its spirit perhaps 
more democratic than that of the "Tar Heel," another 
college weekly, the organ of the Athletic Association, 
which, so the non-fraternitymen alleged, was con- 
trolled by the fraternities. 

The editorial board of "The White and Blue" num- 
bered among its members not only some of the best 
students and writers in the University, but men who 
have since achieved State, and even National, fame. 
The editorial staff as announced in the first issue of 
the paper, March 8, 1894, appears elsewhere in this 
volume. 

Among them we find an editor and author, the trans- 
lator of Vondel's "Lucifer," three lawyers of great 
ability, an associate professor in the University, a pro- 
fessor in the Normal and Industrial College at Greens- 
boro, a very successful business man, and the present 
brilliant Washington correspondent of the "Charlotte 
Observer." 

These men were not only intellectually among the 
ablest in the University; they were aggressive and 
were sure that they were right. They would have 
fought the issue to a finish but for a request from the 
trustees that all agitation of the question in the college 
papers should be abandoned. As it was, considerable 
interest had been aroused throughout the State, and a 
number of the alumni, teachers, and trustees of the 
University had declared that they sided with the non- 
fraternitymen. It was the aim of the leaders to bring 
the matter before the trustees and induce them to abol- 
ish the fraternities. The trustees held a meeting in 
June, 1894, to consider the matter. The result of this 
meeting was not very satisfactory to either party. 



JOHN CARLTON ELLER 31 

The trustees, fearing that the agitation would injure 
the University in some way and perhaps lead to the 
withdrawal of the State appropriation, requested the 
editors of the two papers to cease all discussion of the 
question. They then appointed a committee of five 
trustees to investigate the matter and report to them at 
their next meeting. 

This meeting was held in the Governor's office at 
Raleigh in February, 1895 ; the Governor as ex officio 
president of the trustees presided over the meeting. 
John was the spokesman of a committee elected by 
the non-f rater nitymen to represent them on this occa- 
sion. Mr. Fabius H. Busbee, until his death a year 
ago a trustee of the University and one of the most 
talented lawyers in the State, writes thus of John's 
speech in a letter to A. H. Eller : "Permit me to add 
that I heard your brother represent before the trustees 
a committee of the students, and was greatly struck 
by the precision of his language and the force of his 
delivery ;" and he adds, "His lamentable death was a 
source of very deep regret to me." 

The trustees deemed it unwise to take so radical a 
step as the abolition of fraternities. They, however, 
decreed that no member of the Freshman Class should 
be admitted to membership in a fraternity. Although 
the issue had not been fought to a finish and although 
they had not obtained all that they had contended for, 
the non-f raternitymen felt that they had won a decided 
victory. They now, in February, 1895, accepted the 
proposal (once rejected) of the Athletic Association 
that the two papers should be consolidated to form a 
new one. The new paper was to be called the "Tar 
Heel ;" and of its staff of eight editors four were 
chosen from the editorial board of the "White and 



32 FRANKLIN PLATO ELLER 

Blue," John being one of the four chosen. Ever since 
this combination of the two factions the spirit of the 
student body, in spite of its growth in numbers, has 
been more democratic. College sentiment has been 
broader and college spirit truer since that day. The 
opposition to fraternities has not yet ceased; it will, 
perhaps, never wholly cease; but a division of power 
and influence has been established that renders it un- 
likely that so bitter a fight will ever occur again. 

It is worthy of notice that in this fight John made 
no personal enemies. As a friend says of him, "He 
fought his battles open-handed and above board, and 
consequently his bitterest enemies were his strongest 
friends." His differences with them were differences 
of opinion, and he never allowed them to influence him 
in his relation with his fellow-students. His paper on 
"The College Fraternity" shows that he saw more 
deeply into the nature of the issue than most of his 
friends. He saw that the fight against fraternities 
was only a part of the "eternal struggle of the individ- 
ual against the organization." He believed that his 
brother Plato, who had also in his own conservative 
way fought for the literary societies as opposed to the 
fraternities, touched the heart of the principle involved 
when he said : "No institution can be mathematically 
constructed, fitly jointed and bolted together, so as to 
bid defiance to decay and change; they must be his- 
torically evolved from the people's life and periodically 
adjusted to the wants and necessities of the time, so 
that, growing with the transmitted vitalities of the 
past, they shall be elastic with the living blood of the 
present." John saw also, as some of his friends failed 
to see, that the fraternityman and the non-fraternity- 
man represent two distinct and abiding classes of men. 



JOHN CARLTON ELLER 33 

"The fraternityman represents largely the idea of 
absolutism, of loyalty to party, of submergence of the 
individual, and of the supremacy of the organization. 
The non-fraternityman stands for individuality." 

As editor of the "White and Blue," so the editor-in- 
chief testifies, John did his part faithfully and well. 
He wrote chiefly editorials and book reviews, exam- 
ples of which are contained in this volume. But, as 
much as he was interested in the success of his paper 
and his party, he never lost sight of other interests 
equally important ; and he still maintained his high 
standing in his classes and literary society. 

While still a Sophomore, John was elected one of 
three representatives of the Dialectic Society for the 
inter-society oratorical contest at the Commencement 
of 1894. For this occasion he wrote his oration, "A 
Plea for American Commerce." The Medal was 
awarded to Mr. H. H. Home, of the Philanthropic 
Society, now Professor of the History of Education 
and Philosophy in New York University and one of 
the University's most distinguished alumni. 

In his Junior year John was again a representative of 
the Di Society, this time in an inter-society debate 
with the "Phis" held on March 4, 1895. The repre- 
sentatives of the Phi Society were Messrs. V. A. 
Batchelor and J. O. Carr ; John's colleague was Mr. J. 
E. Little. The "Tar Heel" speaks of the debate in 
the following terms: "The order of the entire discus- 
sion was of so high a degree of excellence that special 
mention is hardly in place. It is sufficient to add that 
so long as the work of the Literary Societies is typi- 
fied by such productions as these, their relation as a 
permanent factor of the University will remain as 
fundamental and vital as of yore." The debate was 



34 FRANKLIN PLATO ELLER 

won by the "Phis." John's debate is printed in an- 
other part of this volume. 

In 1895 John won the Essayist's Medal in the Di 
Society. In April of this year also he won the Best 
Debater's Medal in the same Society, being the third 
member of the family to win this unusual honor. A 
portion of the debate spoken in this contest is also 
contained in this volume. 

John, as always, spent his last summer at home read- 
ing and working upon his father's farm. He was the 
jolliest and merriest of companions and the most duti- 
ful and affectionate of sons; and little did his loved 
ones at home think, as they beheld him so full of life 
and promise, that they should see him in health no 
more. And little cause there seemed to think of such 
things as he returned to the University, buoyant with 
life and hope, to reap yet richer honors than any he 
had yet won. 

In October, 1895, John became President of the Al- 
pha Theta Phi Society. This Society had been founded 
by Dr. H. C. Tolman, Professor of Greek at the Uni- 
versity and a member of the Phi Beta Kappa Society. 
The object of the new organization, as stated in its 
constitution, was to "stimulate an increased desire for 
sound scholarship" in the University. The Society had 
a very useful and honorable place in the life and work 
of the University and was finally merged into the 
National B. K. Society in 1904. The Greek letters, 
Alpha Theta Phi, stood for the Greek motto, "Aletheia 
thumou phos," or, in Latin, Veritas animi lux, both 
of which mean "Truth the light of the mind." The 
badge of the Society (see cut, p. 74) was a triangular 
shield in the shape of the Greek letter Delta. This letter 
stood for duo, the Greek word two; and "two" (90 to 



JOHN CARLTON ELLER 35 

95 per cent.) was the grade required for admission 
to membership. Since the exact percentage of the 
grades was never reported, the grade required, when 
all the marks were averaged, was not 90, but 92 l / 2 
per cent. The president and secretary of the Society 
were those members of the Senior Class whose grades 
throughout their college course had been highest. As 
already stated, the class of '96 was an unusually bril- 
liant class. It furnished eight members to the Society, 
while the class of '94 had only one representative, the 
class of '95 only two, and the class of '97 only six. 
John was justly proud of being the first honor man in 
his class ; and his record after election shows not, 
as has sometimes been the case, a decline in scholar- 
ship, but a steady improvement to the very end. 

Soon after Christmas, 1895, a joint debate with the 
University of Virginia was proposed; and tentative 
arrangements were made that the debate should be 
held in Charlottesville in April or May; but owing to 
inability to agree upon terms the contest never came 
oft. John was elected by the Di Society as its strong- 
est representative for the debate; and he gave up his 
position on the "Tar Heel" to prepare his speech. He 
would have enjoyed the debate and would have ac- 
quitted himself well, for he loved a contest, and the 
two Universities had long been rivals for athletic and 
literary honors. When the joint debate was first pro- 
posed, the "Tar Heel" had said : "With such able rep- 
resentatives as Herman Harrell Home and John C. 
Eller, we should be sure of a victory whether this 
'literary contest' be waged in Virginia or Carolina." 

During the spring of 1896, as his college career was 
rapidly drawing to a close, John thought much of 
what he should do after graduation ; for he had never 



36 FRANKLIN PLATO ELLER 

definitely decided what vocation in life he should pur- 
sue. He had already some time before this, refused a 
chance to enter West Point offered him by Colonel W. 
H. H. Cowles, representative in Congress from north- 
western North Carolina. Once he seems to have 
thought of attempting journalism, having, like his co- 
editor, Mr. H. E. C. Bryant, learned its fascination on 
the staff of the "White and Blue;" and there is still 
extant a letter from Mr. Josephus Daniels, in which 
he states that, much to his regret, there is no position 
on the staff of the "Raleigh News and Observer" which 
he could offer him. For a time John thought of re- 
turning to Chapel Hill to study law, as he long in- 
tended to do, even if he should never practice it; but 
his college expenses had burdened his parents so heav- 
ily that he decided to teach. The great ambition of 
his heart was to study political economy and other sub- 
jects related to law in one of the great Northern Uni- 
versities. The authorities at Harvard wrote him that 
they would admit him to the Senior Class to graduate 
if he did "well in five approved courses," and with his 
brother's promise of assistance this was what he 
finally decided to do. Just what vocation in life John 
would have followed had he lived is not known. His 
father has always thought that eventually he would 
probably have become a writer; some of his college 
mates predicted for him a brilliant career as a leader 
of men in law, or politics, or journalism. 

It was during this spring that John wrote his thesis 
on "What Is Morality?" The subject had interested 
him for some time. Like most eager, intelligent stu- 
dents, John passed through a period of religious 
unrest. His poem, "The Doubter," probably written 
at this time, shows that he assumed the noblest attitude 



JOHN CARLTON ELLER 37 

toward the questions that beset him. He did not be- 
come disheartened and throw his opinions to the winds, 
replacing them by new ones borrowed from others ; 
but he calmly, hopefully, and untiringly sought the 
solution of his difficulties; and this carefully prepared 
work proves that, for himself at least, he had found it. 

In view of his interest in the study of moral and 
religious questions, we are not surprised to find John 
attempting to use the material he had collected as the 
basis of a commencement oration. As first written, 
this oration was entitled "Morality and Life." He 
spoke this in the preliminary contest held to select the 
six best speakers of the Senior Class to take part in 
the annual commencement contest for the Willie P. 
Mangum Medal for Oratory. The "Tar Heel" says of 
this preliminary contest : "As to the speeches, they were 
of a higher average than we have ever known in preced- 
ing contests ; and we are sure that our Senior Orators 
will not fail to win the admiration of a Commencement 
audience as well as the respect of Vice-President Ste- 
venson himself" (who had been invited to deliver the 
annual commencement address). 

John decided just before the preliminary contest that 
his oration still too closely resembled a thesis to suc- 
ceed as a popular oration. He therefore rewrote it en- 
tire and at his brother's suggestion gave it a new title, 
"Man's Inhumanity to Man." In the writings of his 
which we have included in the present volume, we have 
given this oration the place of honor, because we be- 
lieve that, in spite of the very limited time in which it 
was written, it represents his highest achievement, 
both in expression and in thought. 

As John had foreseen, the real contest for the Medal 
lay between himself and a brilliant young orator of 



38 FRANKLIN PLATO ELLER 

the Philanthropic Society, Mr. Richard Gold Alls- 
brook. John believed that in thought at least he had 
the better speech; but he realized that his oration 
would not appeal to the Commencement audience as 
would his rival's speech on "The Christian State." He 
felt handicapped also by the weakness of his voice (he 
had been somewhat troubled with tonsilitis) when 
matched against the magnificently full and powerful 
voice of his competitor. But when the Medal was 
awarded to Mr. Allsbrook, although one of the three 
judges had held out for him to the last, he concealed 
his disappointment and joined in the congratulations 
showered upon the victor. He felt that with the hon- 
ors he had already won, the presidency of his class and 
of the Alpha Theta Phi Society and the magna cum 
laude with which he had received the degree of Bache- 
lor of Philosophy, he might well be content. 

When he had spoken the last words of the Class 
Farewell and, after bidding his friends good-bye, had 
started for home with his brother, who had come from 
Winston to see him graduate, there was none perhaps 
to whom the thought occurred that the brilliant future 
which seemed so certain for him was destined never to 
have its realization on earth. The good-byes of his 
friends may have recalled to John's mind a poem 
which his friend and co-editor of the "White and 
Blue," Mr. Henry A. Grady, had written on bidding 
farewell to the University some time before : 

"TO MY FRIENDS ELLER AND SHARPE." 

Farewell, farewell forever, boys; 

The hours roll on towards day; 
When night shall come again, boys, 

I'll be far, far away. 



JOHN CARLTON ELLER 39 

"T'is hard to leave you now, boys, 
For Friendship cannot die; 
And yet the tear we smother here 
Bespeaks a deeper tie. 

11 'Tis love that binds us here, boys, 
'Tis love I bear away; 
And though I leave you now, boys, 
I'll come another day. 

"Perhaps that day is distant, boys, 
Perhaps the heavenly light 
Will meet our view when we renew 
The bond we break to-night." 

The last stanza seems like a presentiment of coming 
death. John said later that it was during the last days 
of Commencement that he felt the first touch of the 
fever that was to prove fatal to him, as to his brother 
before him. The labor spent in the preparation of his 
oration probably overtaxed his constitution and made 
him an easier prey to disease. Accompanied by his 
brother, he arrived at his father's home in Ashe about 
the seventh of June. He continued to grow worse, and 
the second day he was compelled to take to the bed 
from which he was never to rise again. The attention 
of physician, of parents, of brothers, and of the only 
sister, who had come home to assist in the nursing, 
were all in vain. An award of a two hundred dollar 
scholarship from Harvard University that came while he 
was lying ill seemed to cheer him for only a moment, 
and so, too, letters from devoted college friends, and 
the following sympathetic letter from President Win- 
ston to his brother, showing a tie binding teacher and 
pupil seldom paralleled : 



40 FRANKLIN PLATO ELLER 

PRESIDENT G. T. WINSTON TO k. H. ELLER 

Chapel Hill, N. C, June 27, 1896. 

My Dear Eller: — 1 have been grieved beyond words to 
hear of your brother's illness with fever. He was looking tired 
and run down at Commencement, and I felt some solicitude for 
him; but I never entertained the awful thought that he would 
have fever. Please give him my love. Tell him to keep up hope. 
Tell him that he and I shall need to stand side by side again 
and fight some larger battles together for manhood and free- 
dom, even as we have fought together before. 

No student that I ever taught has interested me more than 
John. Pardon me for saying that I have regarded him as the 
flower of your family, and I watched him with such friendly 
interest and solicitude. He is needed in North Carolina. He 
will get well, I feel it. Give my love and sympathy to your dear 
Father and Mother, whom I have never seen, but whom I feel 
as if I knew well. I shall be with you by that precious bedside 
every day. I shall see their boy and my boy lying there strug- 
gling for life, and I shall long day by day for news that he is 
past the crisis. May God bless and heal him. Give him my 
love. G. T.W. 

The rest of the story is soon told ; it is but a repeti- 
tion of the first heartrending tragedy. John Carlton 
Eller died on the fourth of July, 1896, in the twenty- 
third year of his age, as widely and as sincerely 
mourned as any young man Who ever went out from 
the dear old University that he loved. He was laid 
to rest beside his brother in the little family burying 
ground (see frontispiece) that crowns the hill at the 
foot of old Phoenix Mountain, overlooking their child- 
hood home and the beautiful river beside it. On the 
east (front) side of the monument placed over his 
grave are his name, the names of his parents, and the 
dates of his birth and death. On the north side is the 
following extract from his Senior oration, expressing 



JOHN CARLTON ELLER 41 

the guiding principle of his life: "The Golden Rule 
shall yet reign supreme as the basal law of human life, 
the rich revelation that crowns the freedom of man." 
On the south are the closing words of the Class Fare- 
well, words of hope and cheer that for the class seem 
almost prophetic, but for him who spoke them full of 
tragic irony : 

"May each one of us carve enduring figures of 
righteous achievement on the tablet of his time, and 
live a beacon-life of manliness and power." 

On the west is written: "President of the Class of 
1896, U. N. C, where he graduated first in ability, first 
in honor, and first in the hearts of all." 

The grief of father and mother was almost unbear- 
able, for this second stroke of the Destroyer recalled 
in all of its bitterness the grief of four years before. 
One does not wonder if for a time life seemed no 
longer worth living. Truly it seemed that, in the 
language of the great English poet, 

"the good die first, 
And they whose hearts are dry as summer dust 
Burn to the socket." 

With the burial of those that they had loved and 
lived for, home seemed home no longer — but their faith 
in the essential nobleness of life and in the all-wise 
providence of Him who ordained it has remained un- 
shaken ; and they find peace in the assurance that the 
unfulfilled promise of those whom they love has its 
own blessed realization in a happier world, and that 
the sacrifices made that they might be trained for use- 
fulness here render their life beyond the grave larger 
and sweeter and truer. 



42 FRANKLIN PLATO ELLER 

In silent majesty the mountain stands 
Serene and kinglike in his robes of blue; 
The river, like a queen, falls round his feet, 
Embracing each loved feature with her hands; 
In fields with summer's choicest blossoms strewn 
The song-birds chant their hymns of joy and peace; 
The sky is pure, without a stain save one, 
As, winding down yon silver stream, a cloud 
Lets fall its own dark shadow on two stones 
That stand like Death beside the gates of Heaven, 
The one dark blot upon a perfect scene. 
What mean those pale and stern death-tokens here? 
Two noble sons, sprung from the mountain soil, 
Radiant with hope and promise, lie at rest 
Beneath their native sod. 

The love of truth, 
Of liberty, and right, the mountain's strength, 
The river's yielding softness, and the grand 
All-mastering eloquence of Nature's voice 
Grew in them as they grew. The eldest first, 
With single eye and steadfast heart and hand, 
Went forth to join those dauntless few who seek, 
Like knights of old, the Grail of holiest truth. 
Honors that came unsought, pleasure, nor pain 
Could turn him from that sacred quest till Death 
Came, like a thief by night; then lifeless fell 
The outstretched hand that all but touched the goal. 
The youngest, bright and merry as a girl, 
But strong and true as David, went alone 
To fight his battles where his brother fell; 
And won them but to lay his laurels down 
Before his mother's feet, — and fall, like him, 
Death's victim — dead beside the open gate 
Of life and hope. 

Why thus the good alone 
'Die young,' the bad who cannot live, survive, 
Hopeless we ask of thee, stern Fate, and hear 



JOHN CARLTON ELLER 43 

A still voice answering from each hill and stream; 
'Tis Nature's voice, or God's perchance, that speaks: 
"Peace, peace, all ye that mourn! It is not death; 
In fields where gleams the light eternal, there 
Their happy lot is cast. They still uplift 
The fallen, cheer the faint, assist the strong 
In every battle waged for truth and right. 
Their memory yet shall cheer the hearts of men 
To loftier heights of nobleness and power." 
The cloud has faded into nothingness; 
Serene and kinglike, still the mountain stands 
Beside his post of old; the birds still chant 
Their hymns of peace and joy; the river's voice 
Laughingly murmurs, like a sleeping child, 
Of rest and peace within the boundless sea. 

J. B. H. 



44 FRANKLIN PLATO ELLER 



Tfntro&uctioit to TLetters anb Oributes 

The following letters and tributes are included in 
this volume because we wish them preserved in perma- 
nent form that friends and relatives may read them. 
It is our earnest wish that they may stimulate those 
who never knew our loved ones as their college asso- 
ciates knew them, to emulate them in lofty purpose and 
noble achievement. 

As this book is printed for distribution only among 
relatives and friends, it has not been thought necessary 
to ask the permission of all the authors in printing them. 
Indeed, this could not have been done, for the ad- 
dresses of some of them were unknown or unobtain- 
able in the short time in which this volume was pre- 
pared. 

Nothing but voluntary tributes are found in this 
book. A few intimate college friends were allowed 
the privilege of writing short tributes; but in no case 
was there a request for a contribution. 

On account of the necessary requirements of space 
and suitability for inclusion in this volume, many let- 
ters have been omitted or represented only by extracts. 



JOHN CARLTON ELLER 45 

tributes anb Tetters "pertaining to tl)£ Tife 
ano Character of If. Jplato Cller 



resolutions op respect. 

Chapel Hill, N. C, October 18, 1892. 

We, the fellow-classmates of our late deceased 
friend, Franklin Plato Eller, of Berlin, Ashe County, 
North Carolina, desiring to put forth to the public and 
his family some manifestation of the great loss and 
sorrow we suffered in his death on June 15 at this 
University, do adopt the following resolutions : 

First, That in his death our Class suffered the severe 
loss of one of its brightest members and one whose 
friendship and kindly presence will be achingly missed ; 

Second, That his purity of life, his gentlemanly con- 
duct, and manly character while among us elicited only 
our highest esteem ; 

Third, That we, his friends and classmates, will long 
bear in mind the high example of his life and remember 
his absence from among us with that regret which sor- 
row occasions ; 

Fourth, That we extend our deepest sympathy to 
those upon whom the cruel blow of his death fell most 
heavily, begging them to draw consolation from the 
fact that his life was a worthy one ; 

Fifth, That a copy of these resolutions be sent to the 
family of our late friend and that they be printed in 
the Raleigh News and Observer, the Winston Daily 
Sentinel, and the Charlotte Observer. 

Howard E. RondthalEr, 
F. C. Harding, 
Victor Hugh Boydkn, 
Committee of the Class of '93. 



46 FRANKLIN PLATO ELLER 

With this tribute of respect the parents received the 
following letter from Victor Hugh Boyden, who was 
elected president of the Class of '93 to succeed Plato 
Eller: 

I enclose you by this mail Resolutions of Respect, 
to the memory of your late son, passed by his class. 
As president of the class let me assure you that they 
express but poorly the deep sympathy which we feel 
for yourself and wife, and the loss we endured in his 
death. I am, with the highest esteem, 

Very respectfully yours, 

Victor Hugh Boyden. 



KEMP P. BATTLE, PROFESSOR OF HISTORY AND EX- 
PRESIDENT OF THE UNIVERSITY, TO 
A. H. ELLER. 

June, 1892. 

My Dear Mr. Ei^ER: — I do not recall a better or 
more promising student than your brother. I was very 
proud of him and looked forward to the time when he 
would be an honor to the University among the lead- 
ing men of the country. God wills it otherwise. He 
needs him around his 'throne. We shall understand it 
all some day. You and his parents have my profound- 
est sympathy. May God grant balm to your wounded 
spirits ! 

I went up almost every day to enquire about your 
brother, but feared that company would be an evil to 
him. I much regretted that I could do nothing for 
him. 

I would like to know your parents better. The good 
training shown by their two children whom I have seen, 
convinces me that they are very superior people. 



JOHN CARLTON ELLER 47 

Please assure them of my warmest condolence in their 
bereavement. Tell them that Franklin was a "talent" 
lent them by the Almighty, the good King. They have 
restored this talent to the King doubled and trebled by 
their faithful care. They have earned the glorious 
plaudit, "Well done, good and faithful servant!" 

Sincerely yours, 

Kemp P. Battle. 



PROFESSOR H. H. WILLIAMS TO A. II. ELLER. 

Chapel Hill, X. C, October 1, '97. 
My Dear Sir : — I am glad you have in mind to write 
of your two brothers. It is a fitting thing to be done; 
in fact, I have not adjusted myself to the facts; it 
seems such a waste. F. P. Eller was engaged upon a 
thesis for me when he was taken ill. The speech was 
an application of the ideas worked out for the thesis. 
The thesis was never finished. And this was the only 
writing he did for me. I should be glad to see the 
speech printed entire. It has been done some time 
since I have read it, but I recall that it impressed me as 
being uncommonly strong and clear. It is the sort of 
speech that sets one thinking. With best wishes, I am, 

Sincerely yours, 

H. H. Williams. 



EXTRACT FROM A LETTER FROM PRESIDENT G. T. 
WINSTON TO JAMES EELER. 

September 30, 1894. 
Since my connection with the University nothing has 
given me more pleasure than my very agreeable rela- 
tions with your sons ; and nothing has grieved me more 



48 FRANKLIN PLATO ELLER 

than the untimely death of your gifted boy, who so 
often charmed us all by his powerful gifts as a debater. 
I doubt not God is using him to nobler purposes and is 
making radiant his splendid talents. 



EXTRACT FROM A LETTER OF DR. R. H. WHITE- 
HEAD, ATTENDING PHYSICIAN TO A. H. ELLER. 

The death of your brother was a very sad thing to 
me personally, and a loss to the University. He had 
the unqualified admiration of both students and fac- 
ulty. The death of such young men as he was is al- 
ways a public calamity. I would be glad if you would 
express to his parents my sincere sympathy with them. 



T. J. COOPER TO A. H. ELLER. 

Murphy, N. C, June 21, '92. 

Dear Mr. EiXER: — Imagine my grief and surprise 
when I learned the sad news. I had just written you 
a long congratulatory letter on his rapid improvement 
inviting you both to visit me while he recuperated. I 
leave you to conjecture how deeply I feel and how 
much I sympathize with you and those others he held 
dearer than myself. 

He was my room mate and my friend — perhaps the 
truest I had in the University — certainly the most 
esteemed. We affiliated more or less while we were 
fresbmen ; then I dropped out a year ; and last year we 
both returned and became associated in all our little 
college matters, adhering to the same principles and 
sharing the same fortunes. And in all things he 
proved worthy the highest confidence and the greatest 
reward. I had the utmost respect for his opinions, 
and was often guided by his sober judgment when my 



JOHN CARLTON ELLER 49 

own implnsive nature would have precipitated me into 
difficulties. I wish I could say something to console 
you; but all that 1 could say would but magnify your 
loss and aggravate your sorrow — I have nothing but 
praises for him. Your sincere friend, 

T. J. Cooper. 



F. C. HARDING TO MR. AND MRS. JAMES ELLER. 

Greenville, N. C, June 19, 1892. 

My Dear Sir and Madam: — I have just received 
letters from the University announcng the death of 
your son. I am deeply grieved by his death. He was 
my dearest friend and classmate at the University ; and 
our college and social relations while there made me 
feel more closely bound to him than to any other mem- 
ber of our class. He was almost like a brother to me. 
I knew him in the class room, I knew 'him outside of 
the college walls as he mingled among the people of the 
village, and, best of all, I knew him as he was in his 
< >\vn private room ; it was there that I learned his true 
nature, and it w r as there that I learned to regard him 
with that unchanging friendship which so strongly 
bound us together. 

We were intimately associated together during our 
whole career at the University, and especially so during 
the last year. We were society representatives at the 
same time, and only a few weeks ago we were both 
elected as first editors of the University Magazine, he 
from the Di Society and myself from the Phi ; and in 
many other instances we were intimately associated to- 
gether. I honestly believe I knew him better than any 
one else knew him, and I told my mother before I 
heard of his death, that F. P. Eller was my ideal gen- 



50 FRANKLIN PLATO ELLER 

tleman, for there was no one who possessed more 
splendid qualities of character than he. He was a 
true, noble man and was always actuated by the very 
highest sense of honor. 

I truly sympathize with you in your sorrow. I feel 
that I have lost my dearest friend from my class. 
With tenderest sympathy, I am, 

Very truly yours, 

F. C. Harding. 



PLATO COLLINS TO A. H. ELLER. 

Kinston, N. C, June 30, 1892. 

My Dear Sir: — I have been intending to write you 
a letter since the fifteenth of June, but have thought it 
best to wait a few days. In the loss of your brother, 
F. P. Eller, I sincerely sympathize with you and share 
your sorrow in no small degree. I knew him inti- 
mately as a friend, but I felt that I was an adopted 
brother of his. F. C. Harding, F. P. Eller, and I were 
a trio of friends, almost brothers. I am proud that I 
was the friend of so noble a young man. I say with- 
out hesitation that he and Harding are the noblest, 
truest young men I have ever known. I loved him be- 
cause he would have died fighting for his convictions. 
I loved 'him for the heart and noble manhood that was 
in him. He was as stalwart in character as he was in 
stature. I loved him also for the glorious promise of 
his young life. His future seemed so bright. He was 
a worker. He labored with diligence, with system for 
the accomplishment of bis life's noble purpose — the 
perfection of the highest character and the best 
intellect. 

It seems so strange, so mysterious, that he should be 



JOHN CARLTON ELLER 51 

cut down when we could have spared so many lesser 
souls, when we could have spared so many smaller 
minds. But Harding wrote me that perhaps it was to 
make the heavenly shore brighter and more alluring to 
us. Perhaps so ; I know it is to me. Oh, I would give 
anything if I could call mine to be with "Eller" an hour, 
to sit and talk with his soul, as I used to talk to his soul 
in his room and in mine, and when walking in Battle's 
Park. Believe me when I say that the death of no one 
outside of my father and mother could have crushed 
me as has the death of my truest and best friend. I 
cannot fully realize that he is gone. I am glad my 
college days are ended. 

When I left him on the second day of June, he would 
not let go my hand, and when I turned and saw his 
eyes filling, I could not restrain myself any longer, but 
burst into tears as a child. We wept together and I 
left him ; the last words I ever heard him utter were, 
"Oh, Collins, I hate to see you leave me." If I had 
known that I was leaving him forever, I would have 
remained with him. 

Only the week before he was stricken down, he did 
me a service that no one else could have done and 
which I would have trusted to no other. Some day I 
shall visit his grave if my life is spared. I do not 
know your father's and mother's names, but please 
convey to them that the heart of his friend mourns 
with them the loss of the true and noble boy. I have 
never met you, but I feel that I know you because you 
are his brother. I heard you at the Alumni banquet 
several years ago. Pardon me for presuming to ad- 
dress you, being a stranger. I am, 

Yours in sorrow, 

Plato Coujns. 



52 FRANKLIN PLATO ELLER 

BY H. E. C. BRYANT, EDITOR OF THE CHARLOTTE 
DEMOCRAT, ISSUE JULY 16, 1896. 

June, four years ago, Mr. Franklin Plato Eller, of 
Ashe County, was to represent the Dialectic Society in 
an oratorical contest at the University commencement. 
He was a rising Junior. All his examinations had been 
passed and his speech had been prepared. But the day 
before the contest Mr. Eller took sick and was not able 
to deliver his oration. The commencement exercises 
were over and most of the boys went home. No one 
dreamed of Eller 's dying — but it was only a few days 
till death claimed him. Mr. Eller was considered the 
best orator that had been in the University for years. 
He was a talented boy. He was popular both with his 
fellow pupils and the faculty. He was the brainy man 
of college. It was he who you would first hear of on 
entering the University. But alas, just in the prime of 
his course he was called to go. The same year in 
which he died his youngest brother, John Carlton Eller, 
entered the University. 

For four years he led his class and won the laurels 
in oratorical and debating contests and a few weeks 
ago gained his diploma. No boy in college ranked 
higher than he intellectually. He was a favorite. To- 
day he lies low in the grave, last Saturday he was taken 
from his dear mother. He was her baby, and one to 
be proud of. 

There is no story sadder than this of the two Eller 
boys. They were idols at home and abroad. There 
was a sadness in the hearts of hundreds of Chapel Hill 
boys when the sad news of John Carlton Eller' s death 
swept through the State. So it was four years ago 
when Franklin Plato Eller died. Both having come 
from the farm and taken such high stand in college. 



JOHN CARLTON ELLER 53 

But it all goes to show how certain death is and how 
uncertain life is. Today we live and tomorrow we 
may die. The choicest of the flock may fall. Today 
w c see a brilliant future for some young, hearty, robust 
boy, and tomorrow we follow him to the grave. To- 
day we are his classmates and tomorrow we are his 
pallbearers. What need we worry with the things of 
this life? Why not be satisfied with a comfortable 
existence and spend our extra efforts trying to make 
some fellow man exist comfortably? Why fret about 
riches when they are soon gained, quicker lost? Why 
do not we seek for honor and a good name and cease 
trying for gold and silver? Will it ever come? Xo. 
As long as man is human he will seek that material 
gain, letting other far greater and nobler aims perish. 
The above story of two of the brightest boys that the 
State has ever had is sad indeed, and is one of many 
such. Those were good boys. Boys that were likened 
to their devoted mother, who now survives them in 
Ashe County. 



LETTER FROM MISS EMMA V. BAKER TO MRS. 
JAMES ELLER. 

Dresden, N. C, Friday P. M., June 17, 1892. 
Dear Mrs. EllER : — I have thought of you so many 
times today and wanted so badly to be with you that I 
must do the next best thing — which is to write. My 
heart went out in sympathy to you all this morning 
when I heard of your deep affliction. I was never so 
sorry to hear of a young friend's death. It is always 
sad to see one cut off in the bloom of youth. But 
doubly sad to see one whose past is unexcelled and 
whose future was so promising — one whom our State 



54 FRANKLIN PLATO ELLER 

was beginning to feel proud of — one whose praises 
were being sounded by all who knew him. It is hard 
to give up such a friend, and none but a mother can 
know what it is to give up such a son. I sympathize 
with you with all my heart. I know you feel now that 
you can hardly live without him. But there is one con- 
soling thought — his young life had been well spent. 
He strove for that which was noble and honorable and 
praiseworthy and God appreciated his efforts. I feel 
that he is only gone to a better home. 

We will come to see you all as soon as we can. All 
the family join me in sympathy. 

Your sincere friend, 

Emma V. Baker. 



A LAST TKIBUTE. 

(The Twin-City Daily Sentinel, October 25, 1892). 

No life can be pure in its purpose and strong in its strife, 
And all life not be purer and stronger thereby. 

Franklin Plato Eller was born on the fourth of 
April, 1869, at Berlin, Ashe County, N. C. His early 
years were spent in his mountain home, amidst the 
lofty peaks of the Blue Ridge. And they seemed to 
have stamped their impress upon his character. Sur- 
rounded by their bold, rugged cliffs, listening to their 
dashing streams, watching the change of seasons as 
pictured on their slopes from the soft, green verdure 
of the summer, to the barren, cold whiteness of their 
snow-covered sides in winter, the boy seemed to have 
absorbed into himself some of their firmness, resolu- 
tion and rugged independence. 

His preparatory education was received at the Mo- 
ravian Falls Academy, and already while there he 



JOHN CARLTON ELLER 55 

showed marked gifts in oratory and debate. In Sep- 
tember, 1889, he entered the University of North Caro- 
lina, taking the philosophical course. It was not long 
before Mr. Eller's abilities as a leader were recognized, 
and he received his first honor by being elected class 
president. On account of the remoteness of his home 
Air. Eller always spent the Christmas holidays here; 
which time lie devoted to his favorite pursuit — reading. 
In the gymnasium and athletic field he was often to be 
seen and his powerful frame and his fine physique 
placed him among the leaders in athletic sports. 

As a member of the Dialectic Society the deceased 
ranked among the first men. Thrice he was elected 
Inter-Society debater ; the first time to his great disap- 
pointment losing the debate, but the Society's esteem 
for his ability was in no measure diminished, as was 
shown by the fact that he was re-elected as soon as he 
expressed his willingness to serve, and the second time 
he was victorious. 

Mr. Eller won the debater's medal in 1891 and last 
year was elected one of the representatives. By many 
it was thought that his death was due to overwork oc- 
casioned by this speech. Certain it is that he entered 
into competition with the keenest vigor and labored 
unceasingly toward the completion of his oration, the 
subject of which was "Institutions the Result of 
Growth." 

A few days before commencement Mr. Eller became 
unwell and was confined to his bed, still he hoped to be 
able to deliver the speech on which he had worked so 
hard, but when the opening of commencement week 
came and found him still in bed, he quietly laid aside 
the hope and let it worry him no longer. Through the 
gayeties of commencement he lay patiently, saying but 



56 FRANKLIN PLATO ELLER 

little, and never complaining. After the boys left he 
continued to grow worse, but under the devoted nurs- 
ing of his brother finally the fever seemed broken and 
he entertained high hopes of a speedy recovery, but, 
unfortunately blood poisoning and other complications 
set in and very suddenly his life ended on the morning 
of Wednesday, June 15. 

The long journey to his mountain home was hur- 
riedly made. His body was interred in the presence 
of the family, neighbors, and one of his classmates. 
Few more beautiful resting places are to be found. 
His grave lies on the summit of a spur of Phoenix 
Mountain, overlooking a wide prospect of hill and val- 
ley growing blue in the dim distance, while below, the 
New River winds with a caressing arm around the 
base of the mountain now grown dear to many hearts 
as the last abode of the pure, noble, mJanly youth. 

Howard E. RondthalEr, " '93." 

Chapel Hill, N. C, October 25. 



FROM "LOCALS AND PERSONALS," NORTH CAROLINA 
UNIVERSITY MAGAZINE, 1892, NO. 6, 

It will be with deep sorrow that the students of the 
University will receive the news of the death of F. P. 
Eller, '93, which occurred on Wednesday, June 15, at 
1 A. M. But few young men have so identified them- 
selves with our University during a three years' stay. 
The president of his class, winner of the Debater's 
Medal, successful contestant in the fourth Inter-Soci- 
ety debate, Mr. Eller left an enviable record behind 
him, and he will be sorely missed by his classmates and 
friends. 

His body was conveyed for interment to his home in 



JOHN CARLTON ELLER 57 

Ashe County. A. H. Eller, his brother, who had so 
faithfully watched by his bedside, together with How- 
ard E. Rondthaler, accompanied the remains. 

Inasmuch as his death was very sudden, the news 
proved a sore shock to his parents, and the happy vaca- 
tion which they had looked forward to, bringing with it 
the return of their son, has proved, through an inscru- 
table dispensation of Divine Providence, a season of 
sadness and sorrow. 



58 FRANKLIN PLATO ELXER 



'Gributes anb TCetters (TonceritfitQ tl>e Cife 
anb Character of TJofyn. <T. TEller 



RESOLUTIONS OF RESPECT. 

Dialectic Hall, September 15, 1896. 

Whereas, God, in the ever-wise ordering of Divine 
Providence, has removed from this life our friend and 
fellow-member, John Carlton Eller; and, 

Whereas, The members of the Dialectic Society de- 
sire to manifest the love and esteem and admiration in 
which we held him; be it therefore 

Resolved, That in his death, at Berlin, Ashe County, 
on July 4, 1896, this Society lost a devoted, efficient 
and honored member, and this University, among its 
younger alumni, one whose extraordinary scholarship, 
mental attainments, and admirable traits of character 
gave promise of a useful and brilliant future ; 

Resolved, That his uniform kindliness, gentleness, yet 
manliness, will ever be fresh in our memories, and that 
his life is worthy of our emulation ; 

Resolved. That a copy of these resolutions be in- 
serted upon a page of the minutes dedicated to his 
memory, and that a copy be sent to his bereaved family, 
and for publication to the Tar Heel, News and Ob- 
server, and Charlotte Observer. 

Paul TinslEy Cheek, 
D. B. Smith, 
Burton Craige, 

Committee. 



JOHN CARLTON ELLER 59 

In the same issue of the Tar Heel (September 19, 
1896) in which the above resolutions were printed, is 
found the following editorial : 

"In another column will be found the resolutions 
adopted by the Dialectic Society in memory of our late 
fellow student, Mr. John C. Eller. 

"Strange indeed that one who only three months ago 
was in our midst, full of life and in the exercise of all 
his splendid faculties, should now be numbered with 
the dead. 

"A man of unusual ability, easily the leader of his 
class, he was admired by all and dearly beloved by his 
intimate friends. We feel like exclaiming with Li 
Hung Chang, the great Eastern statesman, as he stood 
at the tomb of General Grant, 'He was our friend, and 
we loved him.' 

"This sudden death of one Whose future seemed so 
bright should cause every thinking man to look upon 
life more seriously and prepare for the end that comes 
sooner or later to every man." 



OBITUARY NOTICE, FROM THE BIBLICAL RECORDER, 
AUGUST 12, 1S9G. 

Eller. — John C. Eller, of Berlin, Ashe County, 
North Carolina, was born on October 30, 1873, and 
died on July 4, 1896. It was a heavy blow indeed on 
the hearts of honored Christian parents at the secluded 
mountain home, where their noble boy fell in the prime 
of his manhood, even as he returned unto them wear- 
ing the well earned honors of the University of his 
State. The blow struck in a sore place. Just four 
years before, another son, F. P. Eller, full of talents 
and promise, endowed with marked power as speaker 



60 FRANKLIN PLATO ELLER 

and debater, had also suddenly sickened and died, at 
the close of his third year at the University. Their 
hearts rejoiced in a son who had already risen to fame 
as a lawyer and brilliant orator in Winston, and a just 
ambition led them to hope that John would come easily 
into the succession. Of exceptional native capacity, 
he made fine progress, and took advanced rank as a 
thoughtful and scholarly student at the University. In 
his literary society, and in college life generally, he 
was recognized as a leader of men. His manly phy- 
sique, his literary gifts, his faculty of eloquent speech, 
his blending of kindness of heart with dignity of bear- 
ing, all contributed to his success. He was president 
of the Senior Class. We all remember his masterly 
and beautiful graduating oration at the last Commence- 
ment, "Man's Inhumanity to Man," wdiich well con- 
tested the Mangum Medal with the fine young prize- 
man. As he was on his way to the good parents, full 
of honors and, it seemed to us, of noble vigor, he was 
seized with fever, and the faithful brother had the 
hopeless task of nursing him and the sad privilege of 
sustaining the parents' hearts as death came. We do 
not know all his personal experience with his God and 
Saviour. But his early life under the old roof-tree, 
say those who shared it with him, was the sweetest 
and purest, and we trust that in his hours of pain and 
weakness he came into closer fellowship with his un- 
seen Friend and renewed his hold on the promises he 
had accepted in his youth. At fifteen, he had joined 
the Forest Home Baptist Church. Teachers, students, 
admiring friends bow with bleeding hearts under this 
sudden stroke, and weep with those who weep at home. 
We commend them tenderly to the God of all grace 
and comfort. Thomas Hume. 



JOHX CARLTON ELLER 61 

FROM THE ALLEGHANY STAR, JULY 23, 1896. 

. . . Burial services were conducted by the writer 
and Rev. Air. Rominger in the presence of a large con- 
course of people. Brother "Johnnie," as he was usu- 
ally called, professed faith in Christ on December 15, 
1889, was baptized into the fellowship of the Forest 
Home Baptist Church on the nineteenth of the same 
month by Rev. T. M. Duncan and lived a consistent 
member of the same until his death. Though young 
and just in the bloom of life, yet in the beauty of his 
character and mental development he was far in ad- 
vance of his years. He had just completed his educa- 
tion at the University of N. C. and returned home a 
graduate with great honors on the seventh day of June, 
accompanied by his brother, A. H. Eller, of Winston. 
He was taken ill the next day, and was confined the 
remainder of his life. Dr. J. O. Wilcox attended him 
daily and did all that he could, aided by the family and 
friends as nurses ; yet all they could do was of no avail. 
Brother Johnnie was loved and esteemed by all who 
knew him ; none could be with him without soon dis- 
covering that love to Christ was the ruling principle of 
his life. Just a few hours before the end, on being 
asked about his spiritual condition and readiness for 
death, he calmly said that all was well, that he was 
ready and willing to die if it was the Lord's will, that 
he had trusted Jesus several years ago, and if he died 
he would go to rest and live with Jesus, though up 
until then he seemed to think he would get well again ; 
but God knows all things best, and He has taken him 
away, and we should submit with Christian fortitude. 
Resolved, first, That we bow in humble submission 
to His will, with the assurance that while the death of 



62 FRANKLIN PLATO ELLER 

our dear brother is a great loss to us, it is to him great 
and eternal gain; 

Resolved, second, That the Church has lost a worthy 
and efficient member; the family a noble, dutiful son 
and brother; our country and community a good and 
intelligent citizen; 

Resolved, third, That we as a Church tender to the 
bereaved family our heartfelt sympathy and sincere 
condolence, and commend them to the care of Him 
who doeth all things well ; 

Resolved, fourth, That these resolutions be spread 
on the Church Book, a copy be given the bereaved fam- 
ily, and a copy be sent to the Alleghany Star and the 
Jefferson Times. R. L. ShoaF, Com. 

Approved by the Church July 11, 1896. 



LETTERS FROM MEMBERS OF THE 
UNIVERSITY FACULTY 



PRESIDENT G. T. WINSTON TO A. H. ELDER. 

July 30, 1896. 
My Dear Sir: — The death of your noble brother 
grieves and distresses me beyond words. I can 
scarcely realize it. There was no one of my pupils for 
whom I felt more affectionate admiration, or whose 
future seemed so full of promise. There must be need 
of him in the other world, for surely so strong and 
noble and beautiful a life would not have been so 
quickly terminated here. 

May heaven bind up the wounded hearts of his 
father and mother. Oh, how awful it is ! 
Your friend and the friend of him, 

Geo. T. Winston. 



JOHN CARLTON ELLER 63 

EX-PRESIDENT KEMP P. BATTLE TO JAMES ELLER. 

July 16, 1896. 
My Dear Sir: — I do not remember being more 
grieved at the death of any one, except one of my own 
near relatives, than I was at the death of your son, 
John. It is to me an awful and mysterious stroke, 
because there has not been a case of typhoid fever 
among the citizens of Chapel Hill. Your son was so 
strong and so full of vigor, so able bodily and mentally, 
so full of promise in every way that I counted cer- 
tainly on a long and prosperous life for him, and 
trusted that he would be an honor to the University 
and the State. His death smote my heart with a bitter 
stroke. There is no other consolation to you or to us 
of the University, except God's promise that all things 
work for good to those that love God. To that prom- 
ise I point you and pray that the balm of the Great 
Consoler will heal your wound. 

Cordially and sympathizingly yours, 

Kemp P. Battle. 



DR. THOMAS HUME. PROFESSOR OF ENGLISH, TO 
MR. JAMES ELLER. 

July 27, 1896. 
My Dear Sir: — I feel very keenly the Christian 
sympathy I cannot adequately express. My heart goes 
out to you and your wife in this almost sudden afflic- 
tion of yours. He who has sent it upon His children 
knows best how to heal its hurt. May He draw very 
nigh in love, and comfort and whisper in your secret 
souls: "Be still and know that I am God." "My 
grace is sufficient for you ;" "I will not leave you com- 
fortless ; I will come to you." These are His own 



64 FRANKLIN PLATO ELLER 

gracious words, and I could never do so well in trying 
to lay balm on your bruised hearts as in reminding you 
of His assurances and promises. I am sure you know 
the blessed way to Him, the way of prayer and trust 
and personal communion. God bless and give you His 
own consolation as you wait on Him. I should have 
sent this letter before, but I have been away from home 
and did not know that your son was sick. 

I have written a sketch for the obituary column of 
the Biblical Recorder which imperfectly indicates my 
affectionate regard for your dear son. It is an inade- 
quate suggestion of the deep and tender sympathy his 
friends, teachers and students, all of them — feel for 
you. He was a boy to be proud of, with a power and 
promise that may have a realization unknown to us 
somewhere in God's own way. I am, with great re- 
spect, Your brother, 

Thomas Hume:. 



JAMES LEE LOVE (INSTRUCTOR IN MATHEMATICS 
IN HARVARD UNIVERSITY) TO A. H. ELLER. 

July 24, 1896. 
My Dear EllEr: — I have lately heard of your sec- 
ond sad loss of a brother, who had just graduated with 
high distinction at Chapel Hill; and I must break the 
silence, if you will allow me, to express the sincere and 
deep sympathy which I feel with you and your mother. 
Mrs. Love and Mrs. Spencer, and I want you to know 
that we grieve with you in the presence of so terrible a 
calamity ; and we hope that you may find some comfort 
in the thought of their relief and rest from the burdens 
of life for which they were so manfully preparing. 



JOHN CARLTON ELLER 65 

Whatever may happen to us who are left, they are 
safe. This comforts me when I think of those 1 have 
lost. 

With cordial regard, I am, 

Very sincerely your friend, 

James Lee Love. 



E. P. CARR TO A. II. ELLER. 

University of N. C, 
Chapel Hill, July 8, 1896. 
Dear Sir: — The death of our esteemed classmate 
and president causes the Class of Ninety-Six the deep- 
est sorrow, and in their behalf I desire to extend to you 
and his bereaved family our most heartfelt sympathy. 
His untimely death will be mourned by them all, and 
his memory ever cherished by his fellow collegians and 
admiring friends. 

The splendid and excellent record which he made 
during his University course will be an inspiration to 
his classmates and his brother students. 

Very sincerely yours, 

E. P. Carr. 



JOHN II. COBLE TO A. H. ELLER. 

Laurinburg, N. C, July 21, 1896. 
Mr. A. H. Bller: 

My Dear Sir: — Your letter received today. The 
plan you mention of preparing a memorial volume of 
your brothers I most heartily commend. It will be a 
treasure in the hands of their many friends, and will 
be greatly valued by each and every one of them. 

5 



66 FRANKLIN PLATO ELLER 

. . . Every friend of Jno. C. Eller will own it and 
prize it, and his friends are numbered by hundreds. 

I 'have talked with many of my friends who never 
knew your brother : they were all deeply interested in 
the story of his tragic career. The story of the two 
Eller boys has been told in many a home. The fellow 
students of your brothers will be greatly indebted to 
you if you put into execution your proposed project. 

The sensation that I experienced on hearing of your 
brother's death is simply indescribable — awful. My 
whole mental activity has been upset by the sad news, 
for every thought I have connected with my alma 
mater, is linked with my thoughts of him. Now he is 
no more, my thoughts seem empty and vague. 

He was a leader — a leader in his class — in politics — 
in everything. He was the most perfect specimen of 
young manhood that I have ever known — physical, 
mental, and spiritual. He was a moral boy, a perfect 
gentleman. 

His brother I did not know. But one who knew 
him — his fellow student, Maxey L. John — remarked to 
me when I was telling him of your youngest brother, 
"He could have been in no way superior to his brother, 
Franklin Plato Eller." 

John C. Eller was a Christian, filled with the true 
Christian spirit. "Do unto others as you would be 
done by" was the rule that governed his life. 

I talked with him a great deal, and this spring espe- 
cially his thoughts were mlore serious than usual. On 
the last night in April I went with 'him into Battle Park 
to hear him recite his speech. On our return we stopped 
on the seat between the trees south of the New East 
Building and east of the Library — if you remember the 
place — and there we talked for a long time. He 



JOHN CARLTON ELLER 67 

seemed more serious and earnest than ever, and told 
me that he had been led to see things in a new light by 
the work spent in the preparation of his speech. It 
was, you know, a moral subject. He was determined, 
he said, to lead in the future a better life. 

I extend my heartfelt sympathy to yourself and your 
family. 

With best wishes, I am, 

Sincerely yours, 

John H. Cobl£. 



A. F. WILLIAMS, JR., TO A. II. ELLER. 

Kknansvili^ N. C, July 11, 1896. 

Dear Mr. EixKR : — Words can't express the genuine 
pain that yesterday's mail caused me. I received a let- 
ter from one of our friends, J. O. Carr, last evening, 
which conveyed to me the sad news of J. C. Eller's 
death. It was quite a shock to me, indeed, to us all. The 
young people of the town, among whom he had made 
many friends, contemplated a social gathering for the 
evening, but When I made known the sad news of my 
sincere friend and congenial roommate's death, no one 
wished amusement, indeed, all were full of sorrow and 
sympathy. 

For the past three years I have been intimately asso- 
ciated with John, one of which I had the pleasure of 
rooming with him, and I can assure you that I have 
never had a more congenial roommate or a more sin- 
cere friend. John always and at all times and places 
manifested the true principles of a man, and the noble 
characteristics of a pure, high-minded gentleman. Hav- 
ing no brother, I naturally sought a true friend in whom 
I could confide and look up to as a brother. In John I 



68 FRANKLIN PLATO ELLER 

found all the requisites for the desired friend. He has 
done favors for me that showed friendship that could 
be relied on; and you know that friends of this kind 
are rarely found. I anticipated having him with me 
on the beach this summer, but my fond hopes were 
crushed. I have often thought how pleasant it would 
be for us to meet out in life, but alas ! "man proposes 
and God disposes." I sympathize with you all so 
much in this your great bereavement; and if it is not 
asking too much I would be glad for you to write me 
all about his sickness. 

I received your card on Monday last, after a delay 
of seven days. I answered at once, but he was dead 
ere it reached him. I would have written him long ago 
had I known he was sick, and had I not been sick my- 
self. My mother wrote Mrs. Eller today in behalf of 
the family. Hoping to hear from you soon, allow me 
to remain a true friend to the family. I am, 

Yours sincerely, 

A. F. Williams, Jr. 



PAUL TINSLEY CHEEK TO ME. AND MRS. ELLER. 

Mebank, N. C, July 14, 1896. 

Dkar Mr. and Mrs. Eller: — Ever since hearing 
the distressing tidings of the death of your son I have 
felt that I wanted to write you some expression of the 
regard I had for him and of the sympathy I feel for 
you in this great affliction, cognizant of the fact that 
it is not the first of the kind which you have been made 
to bear in recent years. 

The facts that on the very date of your son's death, 
last year, I lost a brother, and during the same month 
was myself stricken with typhoid fever, have impressed 



JOHN CARLTON ELLER 69 

me keenly in the thought of John Eller's death; and 
yet the fact that I knew him intimately in college and 
saw him but little more than a month ago in apparently 
robust health, in possession of his usual buoyant spirits, 
more than anything else makes his death hard of reali- 
zation. 

I entered college with your son in the fall of 1892, 
and though I did not remain during the four years of 
his course, I came to know him well and intimately 
during that year, and in my absence heard of his each 
successive honor with pleasure, and came to regard 
him, as did all those who knew him, as a young man 
whose fine parts and mental attainments raised him 
almost to the point of genius. Well do I remember 
that last January when, after an absence of two and a 
half years, I returned to Chapel Hill, his handshake 
and welcome were perhaps the kindliest and heartiest 
I received ; and though removed by class from me, he 
a senior and I a sophomore, it was my pleasure by 
reason of our former acquaintance and friendship, 
quite frequently to meet and converse on the subjects 
that mutually interested us, and he was ever the kind, 
cordial, cheerful fellow whom I had known as fellow 
classmate. 

He was held in high esteem at Chapel Hill. Almost 
universally popular, he enjoyed very nearly every dis- 
tinction that could be bestowed upon a student : and 
one day, in view of these facts, that he had led his class, 
won renown as both an orator and a writer — possessed 
with unusual cleverness — I was constrained to say to 
him that any one but he would have turned fool. But 
he was singularly modest. If he had conceit, I could 
never see it. His manners were always cordial ; his 
spirits always, when I saw him, buoyant. I wever saw a 



70 FRANKLIN PLATO EEEER 

cloud on his face, and his hearty laugh I well remem- 
ber. He and I during the closing weeks of the ses- 
sion had quite a number of conversations, and one 
evening he called with two friends to see me, and I am 
sure that his merry laugh, happy jests, his general ap- 
pearance of robust health betokened nothing of the 
Shadow of Death. I esteemed it an honor when he 
courteously asked me to read his great speech, "Man's 
Inhumanity to Man ;" and when but a few days before 
Commencement, in busy preparation for that occasion, 
he asked me to hear him speak it in Memorial Hall, I 
felt indeed flattered. 

It is hard, I must say, to realize that he is dead. 
With so much hope, with such lofty ambition, yet with 
suCh discreet reserve, so popular with those with whom 
he came in contact ; so manly, so gentle, and unassum- 
ing — it is hard indeed to think that John Eller is cut 
down in his mountain home. 

If those who have known him only as college man 
mourn his loss, how must you, his parents, who have 
seen his fertile mind develop, and his native talents ex- 
pand from youth up to manhood, giving promise of 
such a glorious life of usefulness and honor — how 
must you feel ? I would that I could offer some word 
of consolation in your great affliction. Only those 
whose afflictions have been of a similar nature can 
conceive of your sorrow. 

With my heartfelt sympathy, 

Very sincerely yours, 

Paul Tinsley Chekk. 



JOHN CARLTON ELLER 71 

H. E. C. BRYANT TO A. II. ELLER. 

Charlotte, N. C, July 31, 1896. 

Dear Sir: — Most assuredly I was devoted to both 
of your brothers; I am as much grieved as a brother 
could possibly be. I knew both of them well. I was 
about the last man on the campus with Plato before he 
took sick. 

I am truly glad to know that you will prepare such 
a volume on their lives. Every Chapel Hill boy would 
be glad to have one — I am sure that I would. 

I have two pictures in groups that I highly prize be- 
cause of the fact that John is among the group. 

Any way that I can serve you in preparing the book, 
I will gladly do. I know their private lives well and 
their college lives. Truly, a friend, 

H. E. C. Bryant. 



L. B. EVANS TO A. H. ELLER. 

Ctarkton, N. C, December 2, 1896. 

My Dear Sir: — Your deceased brother, John C. 
Eller, who was a classmate and friend of mine, prom- 
ised me last June, a copy of his Commencement speech. 
When I heard of his death I thought I would not make 
further efforts to get a copy of it, but I have recently 
heard that you were going to have some printed, and if 
this is the case I would be much pleased to have one 
copy. 

I was a great admirer of your brother — he was the 
most promising of all my collegemates. 

I was especially interested in his commencement 
oration, and really think that I was more disappointed 
in his not getting the "Willie P." Medal than he him- 
self was. 



72 FRANKLIN PLATO ELLER 

If I could get a copy of this speech, I would appreci- 
ate it very much. 

Most respectfully yours, 

L. B. Evans. 



JOE E. ALEXANDER TO A. H. ELLER. 

Winston, N. C, July 8, 1896. 

My Dear Mr. EllEr: — Will Hendren has just told 
me the sad and startling news of John's death. 

I never dreamed when I bade you both good-bye at 
the depot a few days ago it would be a last one to your 
brother and my friend. 

His premature death is a personal bereavement to 
me. Somehow I never possessed the happy faculty of 
making many close friends; but he was among my 
closest and most intimate through college. I feel as if 
I had lost my best friend, outside of the family rela- 
tion ; and I believe I have. 

I cannot sufficiently express my regret; but I hope 
you will convey my deepest sympathy to his father and 
mother, who are unknown to me except through him. 

I have written thus feelingly because I feel deeply. 

Sincerely, 
Joe E. Alexander. 



W. T. WOODLEY, JR., TO A. H. ELLER. 

Charlotte, N. C, July 9, 1896. 
Dear Mr. EllEr: — I am indeed much grieved by 
having read in today's paper the sad death of your dear 
brother. Be assured of my deepest sympathy in these 
hours of sorrow and affliction. I had heard that your 
brother was sick, but was not aware of his critical 
illness. 



JOHN CARLTON ELLER 73 

I never knew a more brilliant, noble young man or 
truer friend that John C. Eller. He was such a manly, 
open-hearted fellow, and a special friend of mine while 
at the University. Only five weeks ago we graduated 
together and left Chapel Hill on the same day and on 
the same train, I accompanying him as far as Greens- 
boro; there I bade him farewell. Little did I think it 
would be the last farewell. 

I cannot realize that he is dead. It seems so unreal, 
so unnatural when I think of him as I last saw him, 
noble and strong; now to say that he is no more seems 
impossible. Please convey my deepest sympathy and 
regard to your dear parents, for I have known some- 
thing of a dear mother's love and feeling for her boy. 

I would appreciate a line from you giving particu- 
lars as to his illness and death. Believe me, 

Very sincerely, 

W. T. WoodlEy, Jr. 



THOS. A. SHARPE TO A. H. ELLER. 

Pineviixe:, N. C, August 13, 1896. 

Dear Sir: — Some time ago I saw a letter from you 
in regard to a volume you contemplated writing on the 
lives of John and Plato Eller. 

As a great admirer of both, and as a classmate and 
friend of John's I want to say that I believe you would 
have the support of all the students and young alumni 
of the University. I had a letter from Mr. J. O. Carr, 
who is now attending lectures at Chapel Hill and who 
thought a great deal of John, in which he told me that 
he was going to see the boys as soon as they returned 
and have a crayon portrait of your brother put in the 
Library. I would advise you to write him in regard to 



74 FRANKLIN PLATO ELLER 

the memorial volume you contemplate publishing, as 
he is a man of influence, both at the University and in 
the State. He will do all in his power to honor the 
memory of such noble young men. 

Assuring you that I am ever willing to help you in 
this matter, I am, Very truly yours, 

Thos. A. Sharps. 



ALPHA THETA PHI SOCIETY. 




<J.CEJIer;'96.Prest. 

The first regular meeting of the Society for the year 
1895-1896 was called to order in the English Lecture 
Room by Mr. Home, President, who announced as the 
purpose of the meeting, the annual installation of offi- 
cers. Upon the report of the executive committee, 
Mr. John C. Eller having been found to have attained 
the highest grade of any member of the Senior Class, 
was formally declared President of the Society, with 
Mr. J. W. Canada, Secretary. 

Just now at the beginning of a new collegiate year 
it may not seem out of place to call the attention of 
the students again to the general plans and purposes of 
a society which promises to prove a very potent factor 
in our college life. 

The Society was founded in the spring of 1894, 
chiefly through the efforts of Dr. Herbert C. Tolman, 
then Professor of Greek. Being himself a member of 
the honor society of Phi Beta Kappa, Dr. Tolman rec- 



JOHN CARLTON ELLER 75 

ognized the need of such an organization at the Uni- 
versity of North Carolina, and, inviting a conference 
of certain members of the Junior and Senior Classes, 
the result was the formation of the new society of 
Alpha Theta Phi. 

The aim of this society is purely literary, to stimu- 
late and increase a desire for sound scholarship by 
placing a reward upon excellence. Hence it provides 
that only those members of the Junior and Senior 
Classes who have attained the average grade of "two" 
(90 per cent.) throughout the two and a half or four 
years of their college course shall be eligible for mem- 
bership. On the other hand, the society furnishes 
also recognition of scholarly attainment. There has 
been, perhaps, too much truth in the statement that 
scholarship has found little recognition in the Univer- 
sity, and that literary ability has heretofore afforded 
its owner least claim for consideration. The Alpha 
Theta Phi Society is intended to obviate this, and in 
recognizing ability stimulate it to increased exertions. 
As an honor society, Alpha Theta Phi thus occupies a 
place in our college life which nothing else approaches. 
Nor does it encroach upon the grounds of the various 
other societies in existence here. There are no secrets 
of any kind whatever, and scholarship is the sole test 
of admission. The ultimate aim is to secure a chapter 
of Phi Beta Kappa, and consequently it endeavors to 
conform as closely as possible to the standards of the 
latter. 

The success of the Society has thus far been most 
encouraging. Besides serving to promote the general 
standard of scholarship in the University, it has num- 
bered among its members many of the best men of the 
classes graduating since its foundation, as well as 



76 FRANKLIN PLATO ELLER 

many of the Faculty. As an evidence of this success 
may be mentioned the fact that already applications 
have been received from two of our Southern universi- 
ties for permission to establish sub-chapters, one of 
these, that of Vanderbilt University, being granted with 
gratifying results. — From The Tar Heel, November 
2, 1895. 



A TRIBUTE BY EICHARD G. ALLSBROOK, LAWYER, 

NOW OF THE FIRM OF KITCHIN & ALLSBROOK, 

TARBORO, N. C. 

It is with mingled feelings of pain and pleasure that 
I am allowed the privilege of dedicating a few brief 
words to the memory of the subject of this sketch for 
the short interval of four college years. 

The undertaking is somewhat painful, because it is 
always grievous to meditate and reflect upon the sting 
that death brings and the passage hence "beyond this 
vale of tears" of those whom we know to be true and 
trusted. 

And the effort is not without its pleasure, because it 
is always pleasant to recount and cherish the virtues 
and heroic qualities of mortal men even while they are 
no more. 

My personal knowledge of the late John Carlton 
Eller dates almost from the day of our matriculation 
at the State University in September, 1892. I imme- 
diately upon acquaintance began the knitting of the 
golden chord of friendship between us that was to 
grow stronger and link us closer together as year fol- 
lowed year. My first impression was the true and 
lasting one. The very texture and fiber of his fea- 
tures, his uniform courtly grace and bearing, his 



JOHN CARLTON ELLER 77 

warm, sunshiny spirit, his brilliant intellect — all these 
high-born qualities — bespoke the whole temper and 
character of the man. Endowed by nature with such 
gifts of head and heart it was no surprise that he soon 
became a favorite with all and was quick to find his 
proper position as leader of his fellows. And right 
well and manfully, by force of will and genius, did 
he lead them in the class room, in the society hall, 
and in all the miniature worlds of college life. This 
native-born pre-eminence was marked in his first year 
by the signal fact that he was chosen president of his 
class — a high honor that came unsolicited and was his 
to hold until graduation day. And this, suffice it to 
say, was the sounding of the first note in the ascending 
scale of college honors whose full length he ran. 

Fired by the buoyancy and exuberance of his own 
spirits, his first year's work was but a splendid begin- 
ning of a yet more splendid end — a bright index to a 
still brighter future. He had long since commanded 
my admiration and his magnetic personality won him 
all hearts among the upper as well as lower classmen. 
Though our interests were largely similar, it was not 
my good fortune to be associated with him in his liter- 
ary society and its work, of which he was so jealous, 
and to which he was so faithful and devoted ; but there, 
too, he was an acknowledged leader, and in the van of 
every movement that made for its good. 

Among every class of college men there are those 
who are regarded by faculty and students alike as 
strong, steadfast, pivotal men — around whom all others 
balance, so to speak — and who by their conservatism 
and wise and discreet judgment upon the various and 
shifting questions that vex the mind of a student body, 
can fashion college sentiment and bring things to pass. 



78 FRANKLIN PLATO ELLER 

My late associate and comrade was pre-eminently of 
that number, and full many a time in the still quiet 
hours of the night taking counsel around his hearth- 
stone about the loss of some imaginary right — he it 
was who would steer us out of these whirlpools of 
misunderstood relations into more placid waters of 
peace and order. He was a natural born organizer and 
leader of men. Undismayed and unassuming, he met 
every obstacle squarely, and overcame it; answered 
every call of duty, and bravely did it. In like spirit he 
went on the smooth and even tenor of his way in dili- 
gent pursuit of his studies, wearing his honors right 
worthily and mastering all his tasks with an intelli- 
gence as keen and clear as the fresh mountain air that 
fed his young life and quickened his youthful energies. 
On all questions of great importance that came under 
the jurisdiction of the student body, his opinion was 
invariably sought, and at no time did he fail to uplift 
his voice in behalf of truth, right, and justice as he saw 
and believed them. He was universally popular — a 
friend of every one — friendly to all, and those who 
knew ( him best admired him most. 

His every act emitted gentle rays of his intensely 
warm human heart and through every utterance 
beamed forth soft and mellow lights of love — ideal 
reflections of his high and noble breeding. Complete 
self-control and matchless ease and power of expres- 
sion were strong and striking characteristics of him; 
and he was always himself, whether in public discus- 
sion, in heated debate, or pursuing some more tedious 
and intricate course of syllogistic reasoning. Friends 
and co-laborers as we were, our friendship and intimacy 
were never more genuine and mutual than in our grad- 
uating year (and readers of this will pardon this very 



JOHN CARLTON ELLER 79 

personal allusion), when we measured arms and tilted 
zealously for the same coveted prize. There were 
other contestants for this token of excellence, but the 
real contest was thought to be by those who knew, be- 
tween him and myself. And amid all the enthusiasm 
and hopefulness and youthful eagerness consequent 
upon such rivalry I am happy to relate that neither of 
us ever for once doubted the other's sincere efforts and 
honest purpose. It was then that I was drawn very 
close to his warm heart, and my long friendship grew 
into great admiration and esteem. I can never forget 
the theme of his beautiful oration on that eventful 
day: "Man's Inhumanity to Man." How it bristled 
with bright ideas. How it sparkled with burning elo- 
quence ! That production — so typical of the man and 
his nature — in a masterful way added another jewel to 
his already brilliant diadem and in sad, sorrowful truth 
was the crowning effort of his life. For very soon 
thereafter, while seeking rest from exhausting labors 
in the quiet solitude of his paternal home, he fell a 
victim to fever; God saw fit to take him and he was 
not. Thus, in the blush and vigor of hopeful, am- 
bitious young manhood did his kindly light go out and 
naught of mortal form remains of him save the picture 
face that lies before me and inspires me as I write. 

He is not dead — forever dead — but only sleeping — 
peacefully sleeping in his mountain resting place, while 
his soul, as pure as Alpine snows, as gentle as Aegean 
zephyrs or the soft breezes that play about his mound, 
hath taken its flight hence beyond the dark river into 
the land of the Hereafter, there to rest sweetly and be 
at perennial ease in a new life among the saints. 

Richard G. Allsbrook. 

Scotland Neck, N. C., July 5, 1897. 



80 FRANKLIN PLATO ELLER 

MR. J. O. CARR TO J. B. HUBBELL. 

Wilmington, N. C, September 8, 1909. 
Mr. J. B. Hubbell, Red House, Va. 

My Dear Sir : — I am very much pleased to note that 
you and your uncle, Mr. A. H. Eller, are preparing a 
volume in memory of Plato and John C. Eller, both of 
whom were students at the University of North Caro- 
lina. 

I knew Plato Eller very slightly, as he was in the 
Junior Class when I entered and died during the first 
year of my stay at the University; but no man in the 
University stood higher than he. 

As to John C. Eller, I was intimately associated with 
him for four years, and there was no student at the 
University whom I loved more, and who was more 
universally loved and esteemed by the student body 
than he. He was a leader in class work, in athletics, 
in the literary societies, in college politics, and in every 
department of college life. He had strong convictions 
on all questions affecting the University and never con- 
cealed those convictions. He entered into many con- 
tests and rivalries among students, but his differences 
with fellow students were differences of views, and he 
fought his battles open-handed and above board ; and 
consequently his bitterest enemies were his strongest 
friends. When he graduated and left the University, 
he carried with him as bright prospects for a brilliant 
future as any young man who ever left its doors, and 
the news which came only a short while after his de- 
parture, that he had died with typhoid fever, was a 
stunning blow to his friends at Chapel Hill. In his 
death, both the University and the State sustained a 
great loss, as there could be no doubt that he could 



JOHN CARLTON ELLER 81 

have soon become one of the leading public men in 
North Carolina. 

I hope you will let nothing interfere with your pur- 
pose to complete this work, because the records of Plato 
and John C. Eller at the University ought to be pre- 
served. Yours sincerely, 

J. O. Carr. 

LETTER FROM MI*. II. G. CHATHAM TO MR. A. H. 
ELLER. 

Elkin, N. C, July 14, 1896. 
Mr. A. H. Bller, Winston, N. C: 

Dear EllEr : — Allow me to express the fervent sym- 
pathy I feel for you in your recent great bereavement. 
It was not my privilege to know your brother person- 
ally, but the verdict which I have heard many of his 
friends render was that he was one of the brightest 
young men in the State. I wish I could by some word 
or deed make the burden of your sorrow lighter, but 
that is scarcely within the pale of human possibility, 
and my family join me in kind regards and good 
wishes. H. G. Chatham. 



LETTER FROM PROF. J. W. CANADA TO MR. A. H. 
ELLEiR. 

SummErFiEld, N. C, July 21, 1896. 
A. H. BUer, Esq., Winston, N. C: 

My Dear Sir: — I shall be glad to have a memorial 
volume of my devoted college friend, .your brother, John 
C. Your other brother I did not know, having entered 
college later. I am sure that a number of his class- 
mates and collegenrates would want such a volume as a 



82 FRANKLIN PLATO ELLER 

memorial of their associate, one whom every one knew 
only 'to esteem and love. I speak of John C. Your 
other brother had just as many warm friends at the 
University and at home, I know. 

By such a volume we shall cherish the memory, and 
emulate the examples of these noble young men who 
fell just as they were ready for the battles of life, and 
thus to some extent shall they, though they have passed 
beyond, continue their labor in and through us. 

I shall be glad to do anything in my power for the 
memory of my dear friend, John C. Eller. 

Yours, 
J. W. Canada. 



LETTER FROM MR. GEO. STEPHENS, OF CHARLOTTE, 
N. C, TO MR. A. H. ELLER. 

Asbury Park, N. J., July 11, 1896. 

My Dear Mr. EllEr: — The sad news of your 
brother's death has just reached me and I hasten to 
write and extend my most sincere and heartfelt sym- 
pathy in this your sad bereavement. You will hardly 
remember me, I guess, but I was so very fond of John 
that I'm not going to let any conventionality prevent 
my writing. Letters, I know, are always inadequate 
at such times, and I feel that no words can express my 
true feelings now. 

Your brother and I were classmates and he never 
had a more ardent admirer than I. Circumstances 
threw us together a great deal, and always, every- 
where he was the straightforward, manly fellow that 
made him so deservedly popular. 

It seems a strange dispensation of Providence for 
one so promising, just in the bloom of young manhood, 



JOHN CARLTON ELLER 83 

to be taken away, but it is best, I suppose, to bow in 
humble submission to the One that "doeth all things 
well." Again offering my most cordial sympathy and 
assuring you of my own deep and heartfelt sadness, I 
am, Most sincerely, 

Geo. Stephens. 



LETTER FROM MRS. McBEE TO MR. JAMES ELLER. 

Green Hill, July 12. 

My Dear Mr. EllER: — Through the Charlotte Ob- 
server I have learned with profound sorrow of the 
sudden bereavement, which many share with you, but 
which to you and your family is supreme. 

Although I am a comparative stranger, your exceed- 
ing kindness two years ago, at the mere mention of 
my father-in-law's name, justifies me in assuring you 
of my heartfelt sympathy, and I trust you will not con- 
sider such expression an intrusion upon the sacredness 
of your affliction. 

Although I met your son only the once, the few 
hours, which at your bidding, he so obediently and 
cheerfully gave me, impressed indelibly upon my mind 
the simplicity and dignity of his character. I have 
heard through friends of his noble record at the Uni- 
versity. 

There have been men, who, in a single flash of 
genius, evidenced that they were destined to reign as 
kings forever — yet they were cut down ere the world 
recognized their mission or heeded their message. The 
virtue, purity, honesty, courage, patience, faith and 
love possess the very essence of eternal law. The les- 
son is made clear by the light which life and immortal- 
it}' have brought. Life here seems and ought to seem 



84 FRANKLIN PLATO ELLER 

incomplete, for it is incomplete — it is but the threshold 
of the one eternal life. It is not designed of God to 
exhaust or fully employ His multitudinous gifts to 
man — it is not the ultimatum of heaven — bequeathed 
powers ; if it shall train and exercise and render vigor- 
ous the spiritual faculties, so that, when adequate 
sphere and scope nave been vouchsafed, these shall ac- 
complish that whereunto they were sent, then life here 
is not in vain. Labour and life in the Lord are never 



in vam 



Our Blessed Lord ended His marvellous career on 
earth while He was yet a young man. He chose as the 
companions of His ministry young men ; and the young 
disciple whom Jesus loved said in 'his old age, "I write 
unto you, young men, because ye are strong." 

It is ours to believe that the King of Love has taken 
your son in the vigor and beauty of youth closer to 
Himself — and while we may not repress the tears, let 
us rejoice for the victor's sake. 

MJrs. Gwyn and family beg to extend to you sin- 
cere sympathy. 

Believe me very humbly and faithfully, 

Yours, 

Vardry McBEE. 

Ronda, North Carolina. 



EXTRACT FROM A LETTER WRITTEN BY EUGENE L. 

HARRIS, REGISTRAR OF THE UNIVERSITY, TO 

MR. A. H. ELLER, AUGUST 15, 1896. 

Mr. A. H. Bller, Winston, N. C: 

Dear Mr. EllER : — Let me tell you how we mourn 
with you over the early departure of your brother, who 
won friends for himself wherever he went. It seems 



JOHN CARLTON ELLER 85 

that Deatli indeed loves a shining mark. It is sad to 
think of, that one so full of hope for the future in 
broadening for usefulness — in expanding for life — 
should so suddenly be snatched away from time to 
eternity. I can truly sympathize with you, as the 
agony is yet fresh in my heart when the yellow tele- 
gram came saying that my lovely brother (Hunter) 
had been drowned in Little River. But let us never 
murmur against a Father who knows best and veils 
much from his children's earthly view. Let us rather 
remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that the "sor- 
row of His disciples would be turned into joy" and let 
us not mourn as those who have no hope — but await 
the resurrection morn. 



A LETTER FROM RICHARD COBB, RECORDER OF 
HARVARD UNIVERSITY. 

Barnstable, Mass., July 27, 1896. 

Dear Sir : — The letter in which you tell me of your 
brother's death has been forwarded to me here. You 
will, I trust, believe that the sympathy I would express 
for you if I could, is real. That we appreciate in some 
small part your brother's worth was shown by our 
giving to him an award of aid which, because of its 
limited amount, we are forced to refuse to many thor- 
oughly deserving applicants. It follows that we real- 
ize that in your brother's death we have lost a student 
whom we would have been proud to number among 
our graduates. 

Again expressing my sympathy for you in your sor- 
row, T am Yours sincerely, 

Richard Cobb. 



86 FRANKLIN PLATO ELLER 

EXTRACT FROM A LETTER WRITTEN BY MR. GEO. 

W. CONNOR, OF WILSON, N. C, TO MR. J. B. 

HUBRELL, SEPTEMBER 27, 1909. 

Mr. J. B. Hubbell, Red House, Va.: 

Dear Sir: — Your favor of the 9th inst., advising 
that you and your uncle are preparing a volume in 
memory of Franklin Plato and John Carlton Eller 
came duly to hand, but I have been absent from home 
so much this month that I have been unable to reply to 
the same. 

I was at the University with Plato Eller, and it was 
my privilege to enjoy a rather intimate friendship with 
him,. His death affected me greatly and I often think 
of his fine character and splendid ability. He won the 
affection and enjoyed the esteem of all who knew him. 
His University friends looked forward confidently to a 
brilliant career for him. He had the character and 
ability which would have enabled him to render great 
service to the State if he had lived. 



EXTRACT FROM A LETTER WRITTEN BY MISS 

REBECCA SCHENCK, OF GREENSBORO, N. C, TO 

MR. A. H. ELLER, JULY 12, 1896. 

My Dear Mr. Eller: — I learn for the first time 
today of your sorrow and my heart goes out in sympa- 
thy to you in this great bereavement. May the God 
of all comfort be with you and enable you to feel that 
He does all things well. 

I never knew your brother personally, but Michael 
has told me often of his brightness, his ambition, his 
unswerving fidelity to duty and of his kindness to him, 
a younger boy. 



JOHN CARLTON ELLER 87 

I have never seen Michael more genuinely grieved 
than over the news of his death, and he asks me to join 
in a heart full of sympathy for you and your parents. 



EXTRACT PROM A LETTER WRITTEN BY PROF. JXO. 
J. BLAIR, SUPT. CITY SCHOOLS OP WILMING- 
TON, TO MR. A. H. ELLER, JULY 20, 1806. 

Dear Eller : — I assure you that you have my deep- 
est sympathy in your recent affliction. The news of 
your brother's death caused the most profound regret 
at Chapel Hill, where he was so well known and loved. 

Very truly, 

Jno. J. Blair. 



LETTER PROM PROP. H. H. HORNE, OF NEW YORK 
UNIVERSITY, TO MR. J. B. HUBBELL 

Leonia, N. J., September 27, 1909. 

My Dear Mr. Hubbele : — When I entered the Uni- 
versity as a Freshman in 1891, the name of Plato Eller 
was a part of the heritage of the institution, about 
which the halo of fame had gathered. 

John Eller was my collegemate, my pupil, my friend. 
As a collegemate he was admired by all for his bril- 
liancy in scholarship and in oratory ; as a pupil he was 
among my few best; as a friend, we had peculiar bonds 
of affinity, both in religion and in college politics. As 
no doubt known to you, and like most earnest-minded 
men, Eller passed through an intellectual storm and 
stress period in college. He had his Wander- jahr. 
We talked about it at the time and he ended this pe- 
riod, as I think, with views of life admixed with a 
"sweet reasonableness." 



88 FRANKLIN PLATO ELLER 

I am glad you and your uncle are perpetuating in 
permanent form the great achievements of these two 
lamented sons of our University. Trusting your suc- 
cess will be comparable to what theirs would have 
been, I remain, Very cordially yours, 

H. H. Horne. 



JOHN CARLTOX ELLER 89 

TJtttroouctlon to tl)£ Writings an5 Speeches of 
~plato TElUr 

The writings and speeches that follow are included 
for two reasons: first, because they were written by 
those whom this volume is intended to commemorate, 
and hence should interest all who are interested in the 
story of their lives ; and, second, because we believe 
that, apart from all considerations of this nature, they 
are well worthy of preservation because of their beauty 
of language and nobility of thought. 

It is necessary, however, to state that all of them 
were written for special occasions, which have little 
significance for some of those who will read this volume. 
Almost none of them were written with any idea that 
they would ever be preserved at all, much less that 
they would be printed. In many cases we have had to 
print from incomplete first drafts because the final 
copy was lost or unobtainable. But, when measured 
by the proper standards, we do not doubt that they will 
serve abundantly to substantiate every statement and 
implication as to their merit found in other parts of 
this volume, and will interest many who never knew 
those Who wrote them. 

Plato Eller disliked writing almost to the same de- 
gree that he loved to speak. Standing before a body 
of men gathered to discuss a question of importance, 
he felt the thrill of the moment calling out his noblest 
and deepest thoughts and arraying them for him, as it 
were, in language of corresponding nobility and im- 
pressiveness : but when a pen was placed in his hand, 
unless in his mind's eye he saw his audience before 



90 FRANKLIN PLATO ELLER 

him, his thoughts did not flow readily into words, and 
he lost patience with trying to find by a process of 
cold selection the words and phrases that in speaking 
came of their own accord. It is almost certain that 
neither of the three debates here printed were delivered 
in the form in which they are found here. The second 
is written in pencil with many scarcely intelligible ad- 
ditions and erasures; it is doubtful if even the argu- 
ment is in its final form. 

"Institutions the Result of Growth" was written for 
the inter-society oratorical contest at the Commence- 
ment of 1892. As stated in the Introduction, the 
choice of the subject was the result of an investigation 
undertaken for Prof. H. H. Williams, which was to 
lead to a thesis (never completed) on "The Law of 
Growth." The central thought of the oration is the 
application of the theory of evolution to the interpreta- 
tion of history. Less promising material out of which 
to construct a commencement oration could hardly be 
imagined. The speaker, however, as he says in a let- 
ter to his brother, could not content himself with 
writing mere "curls;" he loved debating better than 
the more flowery forms of public speaking; and with 
him the choice of a serious subject was inevitable. 
The far-reaching significance of the thought about 
which his oration is constructed impressed his mind 
and imagination so vividly that he filled it with human 
interest and emotion. One can hardly read it today 
without feeling the earnestness and fire of the speak- 
er's voice and the dignity and power of his gestures. 

The article on "Our Retiring President" was pub- 
lished on the first page of the University Magazine, 
No. 6, 1891. 

The article on "The Dialectic Society" was written 



JOHN CARLTON ELLER 91 

for the Hellenian (University annual) of 1892. Plato 
was at that time president of the Society. The article 
is interesting and significant for its clear and convinc- 
ing statement of the relation of the Society's work to 
that of the University and the State. It shows admir- 
ably also the writer's affection and devotion to the 
Society, for which he fought in many a hard battle 
throughout his entire college career and for which, it 
seems to us, he gave his life while endeavoring to up- 
hold its ancient fame. 

The debate opposing the abolition of the Electoral 
College is undated ; and I have found no means of 
learning when it was written or delivered. 

The debate on the question of Home Rule for the 
Irish was delivered in the spring of 1891, while the 
speaker was a Sophomore. With this debate he won 
the Best Debater's Medal in the Dialectic Society. 

The debate on the question of Turkish Supremacy 
was spoken in the inter-society debate of November 
14, 1891. The debaters were: 

Affirmative (Phi). — A. H. Koonce, S. F. Austin. 

Negative (Di).— T. B. Lee, F. P. Eller. 

The University Magazine says : "The speeches were 
all excellent and the arguments well presented, but the 
committee decided in favor of the Negative." 

A Brief Review of Scholasticism was probably a 
class exercise ; but its excellence, it is believed, justifies 
its preservation. 



92 FRANKLIN PLATO ELLER 

INSTITUTIONS THE RESULT OF GROWTH 

The world presents bewildering complexity and va- 
riety, constant struggle and change, apparently with- 
out meaning or purpose. But beneath that tangled 
network of institutions and traditions, ideas and cus- 
toms, which we call society, there is a germinant seed 
of thought, which, expanding in the life of the indi- 
vidual, gives to civilization its aim and importance. 
The labor of history has been an attempt to render this 
germ, at first abstract and potential, concrete and 
actual in existing society as it branches into its many- 
sided life. 

Everywhere the ideal strives to realize itself in the 
actual, "and everywhere failing in its aim, it breaks to 
pieces its own work," and rushes on to new manifes- 
tations. These in turn are broken through and shat- 
tered by the pulsations and struggles of the living, 
developing truth within, ever striving for expression 
and adaptation to every different condition of mankind 
in the world. 

Man's institutions are the external forms through 
which his inner life works and grows in its ceaseless 
endeavor to realize in itself that freedom of movement 
and symmetry of structure which shall mark the full 
possession of its powers. 

Along the boundary line between the growing life 
and the rigid form, the developing nation and the writ- 
ten constitution, the expanding truth and orthodox 
creed, there is a conflict of opposing forces, giving rise 
to sects and parties, which rend the world in twain 
and strew it with the broken timbers of Church and 
State. The crumbled ruins of human institutions are 
the tribute which the temporary pays to the permanent, 



JOHN CARLTON ELLER 93 

formal freedom to substantial freedom, lesser life to 
broader living. Every "Lost Cause" forms not only 
a necessary step in man's upward progress, but im- 
parts its essential spirit to the higher union and acts 
as a living force forever : 

"Oh, kingdom of the past! 

Tin- forms and creeds have vanished; 
But, 

"Whatever of true life there was in thee, 

Leaps in our Age's veins." 

All that was deeply good or truly great in the work- 
manship of the past, though shattered into inchoate 
fragments, ever incarnates itself anew and lives still in 
the freer life and broader character of the world. 

When the ideas and conditions that gave life to 
feudalism had yielded to the gathering forces of mon- 
archy, the whole fabric of Chivalry, with its customs 
and institutions, broke to pieces, and a nobler edifice of 
thought and government rose from out the dismantled 
ruins. 

In the course of human progress, all creeds and insti- 
tutions, however temporary or imperfect, have con- 
tained a truth and prepared the way for a longer stride 
and broader view. At a time when the Roman Pontiff 
laid claim to the headship of temporary power and 
demanded implicit obedience from his followers, the 
restrictions and bars to political privileges, laid upon 
Catholics, were both necessary and just. But when 
those demands had proven futile and been withdrawn, 
the rights of man and the interests of State alike called 
for Catholic Emancipation. 

The outward forms of society have been wrought 
out by an invisible thought, and when its volatile 



94 FRANKLIN PLATO ELLER 

essence dissolves to re-form under a higher law, a 
broader generalization, or a more perfect ideal, the 
antiquated architecture of its past life must fall away 
and a new train of institutions follow in its wake. 

The Drama of Universal History, which has Ages 
for its acts, Nations for its scenes, and Races for its 
characters, has for its lofty theme, running throughout 
its tragic struggles, the development of individual and 
national character. Living character, like the mythical 
life-tree, Igdrasil, is rooted down deep in the dead 
kingdom of the past. But, where the sap rises from 
its hidden roots into the mighty trunk of existing 
society, its institutional branches stir and move with 
life, and invisible forces sweep to and fro in its sway- 
ing crown, as they draw nourishment from the free air 
of heaven. 

The graduated march of progressive life is by ap- 
proximation, and even the best institutions are valu- 
able only as means to nobler ends, stepping-stones to 
nobler heights. They are the setting of the diamond, 
the Time- vesture of the Eternal, the rude scaffolding 
of the queenly structure of national character. When 
these vestments of national life, whether of sack-cloth 
or "wrought of crimson and cloth of gold," have served 
the purpose of their creation and become weathered 
and worn, they must crumble piecemeal away that the 
fitter garments may press up from beneath. When 
man is dissatisfied with his present condition and as- 
pires to a higher life, when a fresh sowing of human 
thought is yellowing to the harvest, when a new ring 
of growth has expanded from within, the fixed institu- 
tions without must yield along the diverging lines of 
growth to the warm breath of reform, or the shatter- 
ing shock of revolution will lay them in the dust. 



JOHN CARLTON ELLER 95 

There is nothing so revolutionary, because there is 
nothing so unnatural and convulsive, as the attempt to 
preserve institutions unchanged while "all the world 
is by the very law of its creation in eternal progress." 
The determination of the Stuarts to govern according 
to the obsolete principles of the Tudors kindled the 
stern virtues of Puritanism, which dashed the divine 
right of Kings to pieces forever. 

In government, itself, however true its principles 
may be, there is no warrant for its safety and perma- 
nence, save as it reflects the character, and images 
forth the thoughts of its time and people. 

The Roman citizen centering his trust in the outward 
forms of government, in the Consulate, the Tribune- 
ship, the Comitia and all the ancient bulwarks of Ro- 
man Law, and forgetful of the Roman spirit that gave 
them life and meaning, saw the reins of government 
concentrated in the hands of Augustus without the 
violation of written law or the overthrow of formal 
freedom. The obscure minority becomes the ruling 
majority, heresy grows into orthodoxy, the Constitu- 
tion yields to its interpretation, throughout society 
under-currents swerve its life-stream from out the 
forms of today into the forms of tomorrow. 

Xo institution can be mathematically constructed, 
fitly jointed and bolted together, so as to bid defiance 
to decay and change. But they must be historically 
evolved from the people's life and periodically adjusted 
to the wants and necessities of the times, so that, grow- 
ing with the transmitted vitalities of the past, they 
shall be elastic with the living blood of the present. 

In no country can the nervous column of popular 
tradition be sundered with impunity; but all reform 
and change of government must move along the lines 



96 FRANKLIN PLATO ELLER 

of national growth. Napoleon could no more force 
the free ideas of the Revolution upon Spain, than 
Philip II could force those of the Inquisition upon 
Holland. There is no patent for making institutions 
to order. 

The "Grand Model," though conceived by the state- 
craft of Locke and Shaftesbury, and designed for the 
moulding of a perfect State, when applied to Carolina, 
failed in every part. The late attempt of the French 
to blot out their nation's past, reverse its character, 
and start anew upon the basis of theory, ended amid 
scenes of blood and chaotic confusion. All manufac- 
tured governments, forged by momentary enthusiasm, 
reared high above the people, finding no lodgement in 
the nation's character, will be wrecked by the reaction- 
ary wave of popular indignation. Mexico and the 
South American States, having adopted constitutional 
governments -without sufficient preparation in the race's 
past, ride upon the shocks of revolution and ask for 
the name of the new President. Their germinating 
independence must ramify throughout the people's 
life, and grow into a complex organism of government, 
inlocking in its strong and elastic branches the love and 
confidence of succeeding generations, before its free 
forms of government can become living realities. 

The English Constitution unites freedom and sta- 
bility because it has been a growth of development of 
the Teutonic genius through conservative progress 
into the crowning glory of English Liberty. No 
Magna Charta, Petition of Rights, or Bill of Rights 
ever created or attempted to create any new liberties 
for the English people. Their forms and principles of 
government, founded upon experience and conserva- 
tive of precedent, have expanded with the swelling 



JOHX CARLTOX ELLER 97 

tide of modern thought and been adjusted to the new 
conditions of their world-wide conquest. 

The Constitution of the United States faithfully 
reflects the cast and genius of our people, because its 
principles have been evolved by the slow working pro- 
cess of growth in the English race and in the American 
Colonies. Its framers, studying the principles of the 
English government, drawing essential aid from the 
Constitutions of the different States, and improving on 
the shattered wreck of the Confederation, builded a 
structure new, whose every stone had been quarried 
from former governments. And yet, all that savored 
of mere theory or was not in harmony with the nation's 
growth has proven inadequate and worked with sore 
friction. 

The Democratic idea, incarnated in our Constitu- 
tion, in its convulsive struggle of growth, in its pro- 
gressive actualization in the life of the individual, 
bursts through all boundaries and works constantly 
for the regeneration of American thought and the 
readjustment of American institutions. 

The noble formula of Jefferson that "All men are 
created free and equal," has grown into a fuller mean- 
ing, abolishing slavery, extending the franchise, and 
leavening the masses with political education. 

The politics of the country is a practical readjust- 
ment of its institutions to this unfolding idea, an effort 
for its fuller realization and the continuous application 
of old principles to new conditions. This industrial 
age, with its great cities of inadequate governments, 
with its corporate wealth and restless labor, demands 
constant reversion to first principles, and their restate- 
ment and fitter application to existing problems. 

But the American genius, which wrought out from 



98 FRANKLIN PLATO ELLER 

the ruins of the past the free institutions of the pres- 
ent, can, if attentive to its ever-broadening life, read- 
just them to the needs of the future. 

The virtue and integrity of a nation's character, the 
strength and purity of a nation's faith, and not the out- 
ward pomp of industrial statistics, nor the enchanted 
parchment of its Constitution, perpetuate a nation's 
life. 

All the aspirations of the nation's heart, and all the 
problems that tear its flesh, must draw their nourish- 
ment or read their doom from the ebb and flow of 
national spirit, and the rise and fall of national char- 
acter. 



OUR RETIRING PRESIDENT-K. P. BATTLE 

With the resignation of Dr. Battle as President of 
the University, an interesting and instructive chapter 
in its history is closed, one that spans the interval of 
State poverty and denominational opposition. It has 
not only been a period of resuscitation, but of larger 
growth. 

Dr. Battle entered the University in 1845 and has 
been, as student, tutor of mathematics, Trustee, Sec- 
retary, Treasurer, member of the Executive Commit- 
tee and President, connected with it ever since. In 
1875 he raised $20,000 for repairs; he likewise was 
active in getting the General Assembly to pay the 
$7,500 interest on the Land Scrip Fund, which had 
been invested in State bonds. This enabled the Trus- 
tees to elect a Faculty and open the doors for students 
in 1875. 

A chairman of the Faculty, Rev. Dr. Charles Phil- 
lips, was tried for a year, but owing to his poor health, 



JOHN CARLTON ELLER 99 

the plan did not succeed. After the strong solicitation 
of his many friends, Dr. Battle allowed his name to go 
before the Board, and he was elected almost unani- 
mously. 

Immediately he visited the agricultural and mechan- 
ical colleges of the North, and reported that the neces- 
sary work of such institutions could not be supported 
without additional support from the State or other 
source. He made many speeches in the State and 
before the General Assembly in favor of an appropria- 
tion for an- Experiment and Fertilizer Control Station 
at Chapel Hill. This was the first effort of the kind in 
the South, and was successful till the want of funds 
weakened it, and it was removed to Raleigh ; and in 
1887 a separate Agricultural and Mechanical College 
was there established, and the $7,500 a year transferred 
to it from the University. 

Foreseeing this would be done, President Battle suc- 
ceeded in getting $5,000 in 1881, and $15,000 in 1885, 
in grants from the State Treasury. Previous to 1881 
the University had never had a dollar appropriation 
from the State. 

His administration of fifteen years has witnessed 
great improvements : 

The obsolete system of espionage has been abolished, 
and the students and Faculty now work in harmony. 

The instruction has been broadened and deepened; 
the number of professors is now greater than before 
the war. 

The Departments of Medicine, Natural History and 
Electrical Engineering have been added, and that of 
English has been greatly extended. 

Physics is now taught practically as well as theoret- 



100 FRANKLIN PLATO ELLER 

ically; Latin and Greek Composition and sight-reading 
have been introduced. 

The Department of Law is taught by a professor 
who gives his whole time to his chair. 

Instead of three we now have five laboratories. 

The Museums have been extended and arranged. 
Many thousand dollars have been expended for appa- 
ratus, maps and new books : and a working library is 
now open every day. By the consolidation of the two 
Society libraries with that of the University an excel- 
lent library has been formed. 

The Mitchell Scientific Society, the best in the South, 
whose publications are exchanged with similar societies 
in America, Europe and Asia, has been formed, and a 
fine scientific library accumulated. 

The Shakespeare Club, a successful organization, is 
in operation. 

The Reading Room is now open every day. 

The Gymnasium has been built, additions have been 
made to Person Hall, and the whole turned into the 
Chemical Lecture Hall and Laboratories. 

A splendid auditorium, to commemorate the worthy 
dead of the University, Memorial Hall, has been 
erected. 

A branch railroad, largely by University influence, 
now connects Chapel Hill with the outside world. 

The first endowment of any chair, that of History, 
was during this administration. 

There have been raised $110,000 from private bene- 
factors, not counting the State appropriation nor that 
of Mrs. Mary Smith Morehead, now in litigation. 

During this administration the Summer Normal 
School was conducted for four years with great results 
toward building up the graded schools and education 



JOHN CARLTON ELLER 101 

generally. But these are not all, Dr. Battle has found 
time to write elaborate monographs on many subjects 
of historical interest. His "History of the Supreme 
Court" was thought by the Judges to be so valuable as 
to deserve publication in Vol. 103 of the Reports of 
their Decisions. His "Judicial Proceedings of the 
Xew Testament," delivered before the Institute of 
Christian Philosophy in Xew York, and published in 
"Christian Thoughts," received the commendations of 
the great English historian, Freeman, and Dr. Noah 
Davis, Dr. C. F. Deems and many others. 

For fifteen years Dr. Battle has impersonated this 
institution as no other could, and now that he retires 
from the anxious care of the Presidency to the more 
reflective atmosphere of historical study we all, friends, 
Faculty and students, wish him as great success in the 
future as he has achieved in the past. 



THE DIALECTIC SOCIETY 

In this University, second only to the class room 
drill, in shaping the life and thought of its members, 
stands the Dialectic Society. Only those who have 
entered its sanctum sanctorum can appreciate its true 
worth and character. But although its inmost life is 
screened by the veil of secrecy, still it has certain well- 
known externals. 

During the session of 1891 -'92 it has numbered over 
ninety (90) active members, receiving many valuable 
additions to its already beautiful hall in the way of 
chandeliers and portraits of distinguished alumni, and 
quite naturally had its whole life quickened by the 
spirit of reform pervading the institution. 



102 FRANKLIN PLATO ELLER 

Recent changes in its organization have had the 
beneficial effect of stimulating debate, making it more 
general, and giving it decided preference as a literary 
exercise. That healthy society-pride, which for a cen- 
tury has characterized the Dialectic Society, spreading 
upon its walls the proofs of greatness and flecking the 
State's history with statesmen, still beats steady and 
strong and with every recurring inter-society contest 
inspires and rewards its representatives. The Dialec- 
tic Society inculcates high ideals of life. However 
careless a member may be in observing becoming de- 
corum, however negligent in performing required du- 
ties, whatever else he may lack, one thing is essential, 
unsuspected honor. No member whose honesty was 
questioned, or whose honor was doubted, would be re- 
spected or tolerated. The Dialectic Society yields the 
first place to no similar body in the observance of the 
proper dignity and correct parliamentary practices. 
Happily within its walls those restraints of the class 
room, due to the presence and records of professors, 
are all unknown. Perfect independence and absolute 
equality belong to all. There class standing and so- 
cial distinctions are forgotten. In this youthful de- 
mocracy every one is valued and rewarded strictly 
according to his performance of society duties. The 
Dialectic Society has proven a choice field for the tyro 
of politics and the student of human nature. There 
we see the very springs of life at work. The impres- 
sions there formed are just, and the indications there 
given are prophetic. 

Perhaps the Society has never stood in greater need 
of staunch supporters of its rights and examples of its 
good influence than at present. That spirit of today 
which would depreciate the value of literary societies 



JOHN CARLTON ELLER 103 

increases. The ramifications of our University's life 
constantly tend to usurp the Society's proper functions, 
as may be exampled in the management of the Library 
and the practice of not requiring Law and Medical 
students to join the societies. 

Viewing the past with pride and the future with 
hope, our sincerest wish is that the Dialectic Society 
may be able to adapt itself to ever-changing conditions 
so as to exert upon its future members the same magic 
power that gave us a Mangum and a Polk, a Badger 
and a Vance. 



THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE 

The question is often asked : Why was the Electoral 
College first established and why do we not more often 
see the reason for it set forth? This was amply con- 
sidered by its originators, who were no followers of an 
Utopian theory of government, nor were they libertine 
practitioners. Since the President is invested with the 
great appointment and veto power, and since the two 
houses of Congress are generally so equally divided 
between the two political parties, the power, and hence 
the election, of the President is of great importance. 
The House of Representatives is elected directly by the 
people according to a ratio of population ; the Senate 
by the States upon the basis of equality; the President 
by a combination of the two in an easy and equitable 
manner. If the President be elected directly by the 
people, two of the elective departments of the govern- 
ment will be elected by the people, one by the States. 
And when a President shall have been elected directly 
by the people alone without the concurrence of the 
States, it will have been the first official act of the 



104 FRANKLIN PLATO ELLER 

American people in the aggregate in all their history. 
The question then works a revolution in the division 
of power and attacks a vital principle of government 
upon local facts and transient causes. A principle of 
government is inseparably engrafted into human na- 
ture by Omniscience himself and is suited to all lands 
and times and can never fail; but facts, when their 
immediate surroundings have vanished, are of no avail 
whatever. So let us consider whether or not the prin- 
ciple involved is worthy of preservation. 

This is a union of States and people, and not people 
alone. The proposed system provides that the two 
votes which represent the sovereignty of the States 
shall be removed and that the nation shall be considered 
as a union of people alone, disregarding State rights 
altogether. This country was settled with reference to 
its very dissimilar climates, soils, and surfaces ; and so 
separate charters were given, from which came the 
States. These unitedly achieved individual independ- 
ence; and entered into the present form of govern- 
ment, surrendering some individual rights for the 
necessary union, just as man must surrender some 
natural rights in order to have any government what- 
ever ; but they kept the States sufficiently strong to pro- 
tect the people in their natural rights and local interests 
while the union bound them together for mutual aid 
and their general welfare. It was a government dis- 
tinct as to domestic concerns, but united as to foreign, 
with the liberty of a democracy joined to the energy 
of a monarchy or a confederate republic; it was a 
checkmate against the great sectional interests of the 
wide-spreading republic. The manner in which the 
colonies achieved their independence, the discussions 
in the Constitutional Convention, the manner in which 



JOHN CARLTON ELLER 105 

the Constitution was adopted, and all the writings of 
those nation-builders clearly and undeniably prove that 
this is a union of States and people; from which we 
draw the logical conclusion that State rights are far 
more important than union itself. United States 
means simply States united. One reason why this sys- 
tem is just, is that it has suited itself to the national 
growth. The extent of the country and the dignity of 
the highest office prevent a personal canvass, and since 
the people must hear of their candidates and their 
principles, what could be a more convenient method 
than that of electors ? 

Does the change proposed do more than give a mor- 
tal stab to State rights? Yes, it destroys the equilib- 
rium of the component parts which make the govern- 
ment. The basis of that great natural law, the law of 
gravitation, is that every atom in the universe attracts 
every other atom. Upon the same law the present sys- 
tem is founded, that power can only oppose power ; 
organization, organization. Upon this balance of 
power all governments of long duration or great 
achievement have been constructed. Consider Eng- 
land, that mass of strength and good government, for 
which she is indebted to the balance of her government, 
monarchy, aristocracy, and democracy — monarchy 
holding the balance between the other two and forming 
an alliance with neither. Just so, but improved and 
more minutely adjusted is ours, John Adams, that ac- 
complished statesman and scientific lawyer, clearly elu- 
cidates this system of government, which is in itself 
an explanation, when he says: "The American system 
of government is an elaborate system of checks and 
balances ; the States are balanced against the general 
government ; the House of Representatives against the 



106 FRANKLIN PLATO ELLER 

Senate; the Executive against the Legislative; the 
Judiciary against the Executive, the Legislative and 
the State governments. The Senate is balanced 
against the President in all appointments; the people 
hold in their own hands the balance against their rep- 
resentatives by periodical elections ; the State Legisla- 
tures are balanced against the United States Senate; 
the Electors are balanced against the people in the 
choice of President and Vice-President." And this is 
a combination and refinement of checks and balances 
unknown to past history and unequalled in perfection 
of operation. The States are interested far more in 
the Supreme Court, which of late years (sad proof of 
our degeneracy, for the States themselves should 
always be the final judges of their powers) fixes the 
boundaries between the jurisdiction of the nation and 
States than any individual. Elect the President by the 
popular vote and the States will have less influence in 
its composition. In this government where so much 
depends upon the separate members of the government, 
the Legislative, Executive, and Judiciary, great care 
should be taken to place them in power at different 
times and in different ways and thus prevent all abrupt 
changes worked by the fickleness of public opinion. 
The proposed system not only changes the manner of 
the election but also the source; it moves the point 
from which the government has always been weighed ; 
it changes the pivot upon which it has ever turned. 
Confidence is the handmaid of despotism; but jealousy 
is the safety-valve of freedom; and upon jealousy, 
doubt, and checks the Electoral College is founded. 

Thus plumbed by the rules of Political Economy, 
collected through forty centuries of experience, this 
symmetrical edifice of constitutional government rises 



JOHN CARLTON ELLER 107 

with the Electoral College as its key-arch, or, rather, 
in the scientific regularity of its motions, it resembles 
the mechanism of the universe. "The States revolve 
each upon its own axis, within its own orbit, each 
according to its own laws, some faster, some slower, 
one at one angle, one at another; but around the cen- 
tral sun at Washington they tread the great national 
orbit under equal conditions, and constituent parts of 
the one great whole." Shall we, then, by this change 
destroy an equipoise of power centered in the present 
system, which under the most trying ordeals has never 
varied in the least? 

But it is said that where the people boast of their 
liberty a majority of the people should rule. The 
majority spoken of is simply the absolute majority or 
the greatest number. This may be just in a country of 
narrow limits and similar interests, but never in one so 
dissimilar by nature as this, and where the people have 
such conflicting interests. There is no trait of human 
nature more universally and identically true than that 
of self-interest; and it is always unwise to intrust a 
people with power which by being abused operates 
to their own advantage. The minority deserves protec- 
tion as well as the majority, as seen through the pre- 
cautions of Nature. The rule of the absolute majority 
is only another name for that abominable pretension 
that the end of government is the greatest good for the 
greatest number. When this idea rules every one 
thinks his own good the good of the greatest number 
and acts accordingly, and sectional tyranny is the inev- 
itable result. The true end of government is the great- 
est good for every one, with injury to none; this 
necessitates the consultation of the general good, which 
requires the concurring majority. The concurring 



108 FRANKLIN PLATO ELLER 

majority is the rule of all; the absolute of only a sec- 
tion. A concurring majority is a majority of both the 
majority and the minority; thus in the number forty, 
twenty-one is the absolute majority, nineteen the help- 
less minority; but take eleven, the majority of the 
majority, and ten, the majority of the minority; put 
them together, and they make twenty-one, the true con- 
curring majority. And since great and important 
measures require a two-thirds or three- fourths major- 
ity, to accomplish anything each side must consult the 
interest of the other. This beneficent principle runs 
throughout the government, and in no part more than 
in the Electoral College, which requires a majority, 
when blended together, of both the people and the 
States, both of which are equally interested. All gov- 
ernments worth the name have been ruled by the con- 
curring majority. See little heroic Switzerland cling- 
ing to the jagged slopes and craggy heights of the 
snow-clad Alps with no greater tenacity than she has 
clung to her democratic institutions amid the upheav- 
ings of the surrounding States and the onslaughts 
made by the haters of freedom. For centuries she has 
been the blood-spot in the eyes of European despots, 
and can yet boast as free, intelligent, and industrious a 
people as any government under the sun; and for all 
this she can only point to the fact that her twenty-two 
equal cantons elect one branch of her assembly, the 
people the other, and these two combined elect the 
executive authority; founded on the concurring major- 
ity from first to last. So for the want of this the 
Plebeians seceded from the Patricians, endangering 
and rending the rising city, but when the concurring 
majority was restored, Rome spread her triumphant 
arch over the seven hills, unfurled her eagles in every 



JOHN CARLTON ELLER 109 

land, and attained to the empire of the world. The 
absolute majority is founded on the supremacy of one 
idea, which, be it ever so good, is narrow, contracted, 
and unsafe, and tends to despotism and stagnation 
rather than to liberty and to progress. It holds its 
authority not by consent or right, but dominates over 
all by the sheer force of numbers. Let not bombastic 
appeals for the rule of the majority overturn a tried 
and unfailing principle. 

One hundred years ago when this government was 
founded it embraced comparatively small limits and a 
smaller population. Hostile England, the mistress of 
the seas, held Canada on the north, envious Spain held 
the southern borders, the bloodthirsty Indian skulked 
along the western frontier, and Europe was heaving 
with revolutions set aflame by our example ; nor had 
the different nationalities become conscious of a com- 
mon cause and a common destiny. Thus all things 
conspired to make a strong national government neces- 
sary. But today when all these dangers are no more, 
and when steam, electricity, and the printing press 
have made the sections as communicative as the mem- 
bers of a family, and after the Union's strength has 
been tried in an unprecedented contest, we do not need 
so strong a national government. Notwithstanding all 
this the Union has gradually become stronger and 
stronger and the States weaker and weaker till today 
the greatest evidence of this absorption of State rights 
by the general government is that an unblushing at- 
tempt can be advocated here in this democratic and 
constitution-upholding land to remove the Electoral 
College, which carries with it the last barrier against 
consolidation. The States have no rights but sover- 
eign rights ; take them and all is gone. The glorious 



110 FRANKLIN PLATO ELLER 

doctrine of State Rights was not surrendered at Ap- 
pomattox, only its forcible preservation; it still exists 
and is the brightest star of self-government. The dan- 
ger to be feared is that this tendency towards consoli- 
dation is foretold by no oracles and ushered in by no 
portents, but the sands that are to crush us silently 
glide from one balance to the other. Only those inter- 
ested in protecting should have the power to protect; 
the States are parties to the Union, they are bound, 
they depend upon it, and w'hen their influence suc- 
cumbs to that of the nation, the government will have 
reached that stage from which State rights, and hence 
human liberty, can never be rescued. There is no 
difference betwen consolidation and empire, centrali- 
zation and imperialism. Alexander Hamilton, that 
arch-advocate of a consolidated government, himself 
has said that the general government can gain nothing 
by destroying State governments, and that "the States 
can never lose their power till the whole people of 
America are robbed of their liberties; these must go 
together, they must support each other or meet one 
common fate." And the Supreme Court of the United 
States, that unbiased authority, has said that the States 
have given up all the powers possible still to exist, and 
that "this is an indivisible union of indestructible 
States." What higher or more ominous warnings 
could be given to stay the centralizing tendency and 
uphold State rights as the polestar of liberty and the 
palladium of the nation's hope? Even at the present 
the smaller States are overshadowed by the greater 
ones; if a State be large and populous it has more 
power in one branch of Congress and gets more pro- 
tection from the government, and should be equal in 
the other, just as individuals of whom one may be ten 



JOHX CARLTON ELLER 111 

times as rich and wise, but has no more political power. 
While a voter in Montana may have more power than 
one in New York, yet Time, the leveller of all things, 
will soon fill up those valleys and mountains with pop- 
ulation, making the ratio more equal ; and New York 
has already too much power. The quick palpitations 
of the nation's political heart tell too plainly how surely 
this nation is attacked by the malady that infected 
Greece when Sparta, Athens, and Thebes all in turn 
monopolized power, lorded it over the other common- 
wealths, and transformed beneficent democracies into 
despotic monarchies. The States are the constitution 
and law-making authority — the nation only the law- 
making, and, therefore, subordinate. But there is great 
danger that the nation will come to consider the Con- 
stitution not the source of their power, but only 
shackles upon its own ; and this is the chief of those 
attempts. The law-making authority is organized and 
in constant action, having the control of the honors 
and emoluments of office ; but the constitution-making 
authority lies dormant in the great inert mass of the 
community till called into action at distant intervals 
and on extraordinary occasions, and then only by 
granting powers, not executing them. The result is 
inevitable when the nation is trying to throw off the 
restrictions of the States. There indeed appears to be 
a great and prevailing principle that tends to place the 
delegated powers in opposition to the delegating, the 
created to the creating, reaching far beyond man and 
his works up to the universal source of all power. 
"The earliest pages of sacred history record the rebel- 
lion of the archangels against the high authority of 
Heaven itself;" and ancient mythology the war of the 
Titans against Jupiter, which, according to the narra- 



112 FRANKLIN PLATO ELLER 

tive, menaced the universe with destruction. This all- 
pervading principle is at work in our system; and 
unless the government be bolted and chained down 
with links of adamant by the hands of the States which 
created it, the creature will usurp the place of the 
creator, and universal political idolatry overspread the 
land. If the Electoral College be torn away, the States 
will lose an indispensable guarantee of their individu- 
ality ; the Union will be sufficiently strong to disregard 
the States ; the division of power, which is now equal, 
will then be two for the Union and one for the State ; 
the despotic principle of the absolute majority will be 
unanimously engrafted into our now glorious govern- 
ment; the deplorable tendency towards centralization 
will receive such an impetus as to send the nation 
clanking into despotism. In the face of these evils, 
and remembering the benign influences from the pres- 
ent system, let no patriotic voice be heard to applaud 
the groundless prejudice against the present system; 
but let all from every mountain top swell with stento- 
rian thunder that glorious acclaim: "Grand principle 
of government, live forever !" 



HOME RULE FOR THE IRISH 

FIRST SPEECH. 

The laws of nature and the laws of man may modify 
the character of a people, but when we see a once pow- 
erful people failing in every effort and relinquishing a 
continent to their contestants till at last their one home 
is but a rocky fragment of that continent amid peat- 
bogs and sage-brush, and suffering for centuries the 
domination of an alien race without liberty and without 



JOHN CARLTON ELLER 113 

country, we know that that people lacks the first and 
strongest instinct, that of self-preservation, that it is 
unworthy of a country and incapable of governing one. 
Unequal odds may crush out a feeble band, as of Leon- 
idas and of Custer, but five millions united in a com- 
mon cause and protected by the ocean's wall, cannot be 
conquered if deserving to be free. Holland opened 
her dykes and Switzerland loosed her crags on an 
invading foe, and they preserved that liberty which 
Ireland did not. Had she been true to herself and 
deserving of a country, today the evergreen flag would 
float over College Green, and Erin Go Bragh would 
be symbolical of a free and united country rather than 
of subjection and sorrow. 

We grant that the Irish have many lovely traits, 
many noble qualities, that her history is bright with 
martyrs, patriots, poets, lawyers, and statesn en ; but 
the rank and file of that race are stamped with inferi- 
ority and doomed to decay. Of her great characters 
and able leaders, O'Connell, alone, was of Irish de- 
scent; Grattan, Burke, Sheridan, Canning, Swift, 
Flood, Correy, Moore, and Butt, were one-half or 
three-fourths English, and Parnell has not a drop of 
Irish blood in his veins. The Irish bears the stamp 
of the primitive man ; his instincts are still primal 
and those of the clansman whose heart craves a chief. 
He is a hero-worshiper, and cannot grasp grand and 
noble principles, but grovels before a priest in religion 
and a boss in politics. He has no obedience to law, no 
method of civilized government. His primitive condi- 
tion was that of subjection to hostile chiefs warring 
for supremacy and murdering for pleasure; his mediae- 
val condition was that of factions torn and bleeding; 
and at present, when of all countries we would most 

8 



114 FRANKLIN PLATO ELLER 

expect Ireland to present an united front, we see her 
discordant, dissuaded, torn asunder by her own talons, 
not even united against her deadly enemy (so-called) 
nor unanimous for that priceless heritage of a free 
country. 

Let us do the Irishman justice; but take the history 
which he has written in Ireland herself and under the 
free institutions of our country, and we pronounce him 
incapable of self-government. Personally he has too 
often been treacherous and corruptible ; socially he has 
no sense of decency and no pride of honor ; nationally 
no high ideal, no obedience to law. 

With Home Rule the heterogeneous character of 
Ireland's population, the diversity of her classes, the 
certainty of class legislation, the declared intention of 
independence, the hatred of England and England's 
interest, and perhaps the reserved veto must multiply 
the opportunities of irritation and collision; and the 
wounds of seven centuries, which are now healing, 
must be torn open anew. 

Parnell admits that he cares not a straw for Home 
Rule save as a means of independence, and that, with 
Home Rule, he would not rest until he had destroyed 
the last link that bound Ireland to England, and that 
he only wants an opportunity to effect it by force of 
arms. When he uttered this he was the trusted leader of 
the Home Rule party. Gladstone said on October 27, 
1888: "It is idle to talk of law, or order, or liberty, or 
religion, or civilization, if Mr. Parnell and his friends 
are to carry through the reckless and chaotic schemes 
which they have devised. Rapine is their first, but not 
their only object; for they wish to march through 
rapine to the dismemberment and disintegration of the 
Empire." 



JOHN CARLTON ELLER 115 

When England was securing her Protestantism, 
when she was beheading a tyrant and obtaining the 
Bill of Rights, when Napoleon I was raging through 
Europe like an uncaged lion, when Napoleon III was 
lighting the torch of his hopes from the fires of revo- 
lution — at every crisis in England's history, when our 
religion, her government, and her existence were at 
stake — Ireland has thrown her rebellious form across 
England's pathway and joined reeking hands with 
England's enemies. This should palliate, if it cannot 
justify, the rigor of English rule. We know that 
American Fenianism has twice invaded the Dominion 
of Canada. We know that Irish rebels and American 
Fenians unfurled the blood-red banner of revolt in '65 ; 
we know that Ireland's dynamite bombs have thun- 
dered above the Tower of Westminster, and we know 
that with Independence or Home Rule Ireland would 
become the clandestine recruiting ground and drill- 
yard for England's enemies. 

Ireland can gain nothing by leaving the Imperial 
Parliament. She enjoys an equal franchise. An Irish 
member represents 48,000 inhabitants, an English 
member 54,000, and a Scotch member 63,000; or the 
Irish member represents 6,000 less than the English, 
and 15,000 less than the Scotch member. An Irish 
member represents £63,000, an English member £118,- 
000, and a Scotch member £133,000; or the Irish mem- 
ber represents considerably less than one-half that of 
the Scotch member. (These figures were taken from 
Gladstone himself.) Thus Ireland has undue influ- 
ence in the Imperial Parliament; and if she is in the 
minority and must wait on English opinion, it is no 
more than parts of England herself must do. But by 
controlling the balance of power since 1830 she has 



116 FRANKLIN PLATO ELLER 

kept no less than eight ministries in power which were 
hostile to English opinion, and has secured wonderful 
reforms for herself. She receives more than her 
share of the government patronage in civil, naval, and 
military services, and the Indian Civil Service is full 
of Irishmen. 

Can Home Rule benefit Ireland financially? Home 
Rule is desired as a means of procuring a protective 
tariff. Not considering the hostile collision with Eng- 
land which it must provoke, it could not benefit Ire- 
land. One-third of Ireland, the manufacturing Protes- 
tant section whose manufactures have been built up 
by native capital and enterprise, bitterly oppose it ; be- 
cause it would banish English capital and cripple her 
own industries to pay bounties to numerous pet 
schemes. The manufactures of Ulster did not thrive 
till the system of bounties was abolished. It is no 
trifling advantage to Ireland to be a partner with the 
richest capitalist in the world, a capitalist with whom 
she does nineteen-twentieths of her trading and one 
that is always seeking out new fields for investments. 
A protective tariff would close English markets, the 
best in the world, against her labor and produce; and 
instead of thriving peacefully under the policy of free 
trade, which has given her her present manufactures, 
she would find herself in the commercial arena with 
England for an antagonist. 

She is receiving full justice in the Imperial Parlia- 
ment. Because of public need and for local works the 
Government during the last fifty years has taken 
power to give £445,000 to England and Scotland, and 
to Ireland £8,500,000, or over nineteen times as much 
to one-seventh as many people. Ireland is exempt 
from certain taxes, as the excise tax, legacy tax, armo- 



JOHN CARLTON ELLER 117 

rial bearings, etc., which in England produce annually 
£4,500,000. The population of Ireland is one-seventh 
of that of the United Kingdom, and she raises but 
one-tenth of the Imperial revenue. The average per 
head in England and Scotland is two pounds and five 
shillings ; in Ireland one pound and ten shillings, or 
thirty-two per cent less. In Great Britain over one- 
half of all the government expenditures for police, 
courts, etc., is derived from local sources; but in Ire- 
land, not counting the occasional military which is sup- 
ported by England, less than one-sixth is derived from 
local sources ; all the rest is paid by the British Govern- 
ment. In England over one-half the expenditures for 
public education, amounting to millions, is raised from 
local sources ; but in Ireland less than one-eighth is so 
raised, all the rest falling on the Imperial Exchequer. 
Thus Ireland draws far more than her rightful portion 
from the Imperial Treasury, to which she does not 
contribute her just share. 

Let us see if Home Rule can help settle the Land 
Question. There has been an enmity of race, there 
has been an enmity of religion, but at the root of all 
Irish enmities and all Irish difficulties has always been, 
and is today, the question of the land. The mass of 
the Irish people care nothing for Home Rule save as a 
means of Agrarian reform ; and when this end is ac- 
complished they will be Unionists. The Irish tenant 
has Fixity of Tenure, Free Sale, and Fair Rent — a 
rent that falls with the price of produce and does not 
rise when times are exceptionally good. He has com- 
pensation for improvements and compensation for dis- 
turbance, and has absolute free sale. If he becomes 
insolvent from any cause not immediately traceable to 
his own imprudence or misconduct, he enjoys a greater 



118 FRANKLIN PLATO ELLER 

immunity than any English debtor in similar circum- 
stances. If desired there is a court, that acts on the 
general principles of justice, to which the tenant and 
landlord may appeal in all cases whatever. No tenant 
can be evicted except for a breach of contract, which 
may be referred to the court. This court fixes rent 
for fifteen years, during which time the rent cannot be 
raised, and at its expiration may be renewed; and, in 
fact, a vast majority of the rents have been so fixed. 

By existing law all contracts unfavorable to the ten- 
ant are canceled as would be impossible under our 
Constitution. Thus tenants who entered on their ten- 
ancies under formal, written contracts for limited pe- 
riods have been rooted perpetually on their holdings. 
By the Encumbered Estate Act Ireland was relieved of 
a spendthrift and absentee indebted proprietary and 
received a vast amount of land thereby long before 
England herself did. The Irish tenant was made a 
sharer in his improvements long before, and receives 
greater justice today, than any other tenant in Europe. 
Under these laws evictions are only one-twentieth as 
great in number as before. England has Landlordism, 
too; over one-half of England is owned by five or six 
landlords, and four-fifths of the land is tilled by ten- 
ants. In England and Scotland the landlords have 
rights of residence and eviction ; and the tenant has no 
compensation for improvements, no fixity of tenure, 
and no court of appeal. The Irish tenant is enriched 
at the landlord's expense. The land today gives the 
landlords no political or social influence, and they have 
no means of sale except to the tenant, who buys with- 
out competition. By these land reforms the landlords 
lose over one-third of the value of their property ; and 
by the bill of purchase, for every one hundred pounds 



JOHN CARLTON ELLER 119 

to which he is entitled by the clearest legal rights as 
rent, he has to accept £2,000 in stock yielding him as 
interest only £50. Thus he loses nearly one-half his 
income ; no wonder so many are bankrupt. 

Though the Irish tenant has suffered no less from 
his own imprudence, unthrift, and agitation than from 
landlordism, and though it is highly probable that 
there will always be either English or Irish landlords 
since the land is so limited ; still all must admit that 
absentee landlordism should be rooted out. Can Home 
Rule effect this best? The English tenant has no 
means of becoming a landowner; but the Government 
lends the Irish tenant money at two and three-fourths 
per cent, interest to purchase his holding at any time or 
by annuities for twenty years, and no power on earth 
can retain to the landlord his property if only the 
tenant avails himself of this offer. During the first 
two years over 10,000 holdings were purchased, and 
the rate has since annually increased. And today Ire- 
land would be in the hands of a resident proprietary 
but for the boycott and midnight assassin. If with 
Home Rule the Land Question be turned over to Ire- 
land, according to their own declarations, universal 
confiscation will follow upon the doctrine of "Ireland 
for the Irish," which would require the tenant to share 
his holding with his laborers — a doctrine that would 
undermine social order and private property. 

But if with Home Rule the Government advances 
£150,000.000, as was Gladstone's estimate, for the pur- 
chase of the land, the interest and ultimately the prin- 
cipal must be paid, not to landlords, nine-tenths of 
whom have heretofore responded favorably to the ten- 
ant's demands, but to government officials. This, then, 
does not benefit the tenant's condition. Moreover, this 



120 FRANKLIN PLATO ELLER 

would be a great stride toward socialistic government, 
and doubtless an agitation would spring up to cancel 
this loan and, besides bringing a collision, it would fall 
on the British taxpayer. But if for any reason this 
loan should be made or this gift granted, it could be 
done equally as well without Home Rule as with it. 
Wherein, then, can Home Rule benefit the Land Ques- 
tion, which is the very bedrock of the Irish Question? 
With this equal justice in England's government and 
in England's treasury and with the hopeful condition 
of her land problem, what of her progress? The 
ninety years of union which Gladstone calls an "unmit- 
igated calamity" have given Ireland greater prosperity 
than the five preceding centuries. The Registrar Gen- 
eral of Ireland says that she has recovered from the 
Famine more quickly and completely than any country 
has ever done. He shows from official statistics 
that Ireland today per head of population has more 
pounds of assessment, more cattle, sheep, pigs, and 
poultry, more agricultural produce, more tons of ship- 
ping, more manufactures, more bank deposits, more 
capital in every shape, more pupils attending school, 
more miles of road and railway, fewer paupers, fewer 
mud-huts than ever before; and the people are more 
contented. Within the last forty years Ireland's reve- 
nue has increased 176 per cent; the number of her 
bank deposits 258 per cent, and the amounts deposited 
222 per cent ; all of which are about 45 per cent greater 
than England's increase. In the most disturbed sec- 
tions of Ireland from 1880 to 1890 the deposits of the 
Postoffice Savings Banks, which represent the small 
depositors and command special confidence, increased 
on an average 75 per cent, and in the country at large 
40 per cent more than in England; yet in all these 



JOHN CARLTON ELLER 121 

places the "Plan of Campaign" has been invoked on 
the plea of poverty. 

Within the last forty years 2,000,000 acres of land 
have been reclaimed and rendered productive, which 
carries with it inestimable blessings. A slight decrease 
in crops has been far more than compensated for by a 
vast increase in stock raising. During the same period 
the manufacture of beer has increased more than 
threefold, and that of linen twelvefold. These are her 
two greatest industries. The mileage and returns of 
her railroads and also of her shipping have more than 
doubled. 

Meanwhile wages have more than doubled, with a 
corresponding increase in the character of dwellings, 
clothing, and food ; and under the National Educa- 
tional Act, which she enjoyed before England herself 
and which was maintained out of England's treasury, 
her illiteracy has decreased 30 per cent. Pauperism, 
crime, and religious rancor have also notably subsided. 
And this progress has taken place not only with a con- 
stantly decreasing population, but in the presence of 
social revolution. 

Taking the question, then, as a present question, is 
not Ireland receiving full justice and will not Home 
Rule stay this progress and endanger England? Is 
not the Union real and does it not hold a grand future 
for Ireland ? You must see that there is no finality in 
Home Rule and that it settles no essential question of 
dispute, but awakens her bloody past with tenfold in- 
tensity. That sentiment which repealed the Penal 
Laws, enfranchised the Catholics, passed the Educa- 
tional Act, granted Land Reform, and gives full and 
equal justice, is ready and willing to remove any abuse 
or grant any reform that would redound to the pros- 



122 FRANKLIN PLATO ELLER 

perity of Ireland. England granted three reforms to 
Ireland when she saw her statesmen insulted, her par- 
liament degraded, her laws broken, and her existence 
threatened, proving that her heart might be won over 
and her affections enlisted with her interests in support 
of the unity, solidity, and prosperity of the British 
Empire. 

Whatever may be the historic injuries, the imaginary 
wrongs, the sentimental longings for a free country, the 
final result towards the uplifting of man has been far 
greater coming from the British Empire, controlled by 
the noblest and freest race, carrying its institutions, its 
religion, and its life into the uttermost parts of the 
globe, and unking them with the common cord of in- 
terest and the common chain of destiny around the 
"Sea-girt Isle" of Great Britain, and building there the 
grandest fortress of man and the noblest monument to 
God that the world has seen, far greater than could be 
coming from atoms separate and divided; and in no 
small measure the destiny of man depends upon the 
undivided strength and the unimpaired vigor of that 
engine for man and that agent of God. 

SECOND SPEECH. 

Numerous and sore have been Ireland's ills. In the 
early warlike history of Great Britain when she was 
building her nationality, struggling for liberty, and 
contending for a pure religion, when overrun by con- 
quering races and torn asunder by rebellious factions, 
there were perpetrated crimes too black for my apol- 
ogy. We will not defend the conquests of Ireland, 
though willed by her clergy and rendered possible 
by her warring chiefs, and though England was con- 
quered, too. We will not defend the Penal Laws and 



JOHN CARLTON ELLER 123 

Catholic disfranchisement, though England suffered 
them likewise. We will not defend the means of the 
Union, though rendered necessary as a means of self- 
protection, and though carried by Irish corruption and 
confirmed by the following Irish election. 

It is not our purpose to justify England's conduct in 
the past, though provoked by Irish hostility and sec- 
onded by Irish treachery. It is not ours to discuss the 
present by the lurid glare of past revolution. But it is 
a condition that concerns us, and let us free ourselves 
of the eternal bondage of the past and in the light of 
today discuss a question of today. 

We are not discussing the details of Gladstone's 
scheme, nor the theory of any man, but the advisability 
of Home Rule. The term is rather vague, but we 
mean that Ireland is to have control of her local af- 
fairs by means of her own Parliament, but is to remain 
subject to the Imperial Parliament, in which she is not 
to be represented, in all Foreign, Colonial, and Fiscal 
matters. Gladstone and the English claim that the 
veto power on certain lines of legislation should be 
reserved to the Crown, or virtually to the House of 
Commons ; but Parnell and the Irish resent it and 
claim that Gladstone's scheme was not sufficient. But 
both agree that in case of any abuse of her power the 
Government reserves the right to interfere by force of 
arms, if necessary. 

Any arrangement between the local and Imperial 
government, granting that it should be as clearly de- 
fined as that of our dual system of government, must 
have its dangers. Take the case of the New Orleans 
Massacre. Under our Constitution that is purely a 
State affair, and the national government has no right 
to interfere; but Italy looks to the United States for 



124 FRANKLIN PLATO ELLER 

redress, and we have the possibility of war because of 
the national government's inability to act. Similar 
cases have come very near embroiling us in foreign 
war, and notably that of the Caroline with England. 
Suppose Ireland a State with her turbulence and 
hatred of England; an Irish mob might convulse 
the Empire in war. But our dual system of govern- 
ment is not applicable to England and Ireland, for they 
can have no elaborately refined system of checks and 
balances. The local government has no representa- 
tives in the Imperial Parliament. There are but two 
parties, and they are hostile. Under their constitu- 
tional system the legislature is the government. Two 
legislatures under the same crown would be two gov- 
ernments, which in their present temper would almost 
certainly take different courses in peace and war, and 
the golden link of royalty would snap at the least fric- 
tion. 

There are for all practical purposes two Irelands, a 
Northeast and a Southwest Ireland; the one English, 
Protestant, and industrial; the other Irish, Catholic, 
and agricultural. In the Northeast the population is 
English and Scotch-Irish and over 90 per cent Protes- 
tant ; in the Southwest one-third are pure Irish in race 
and speech, and the remainder are three-fourths Irish, 
called Anglo-Irish, and are 95 per cent Catholic. The 
industrial section comprises about one-third of the area 
and population, and considerably over one-third of the 
wealth of the whole island. 

According to population the commercial is three 
times and the industrial class fifteen times as great in 
the East as in the West. Statistics show that the in- 
habitants of the West work but one-fifth of their time; 
but in the East the dockyards of Belfast, the third port 



JOHN CARLTON ELLER 125 

in the Kingdom, vie with those of the Clyde, and the 
foundries and linen manufactures of all Ulster rival 
those of Liverpool and Glasgow. In the West the 
people are content to multiply in such poverty that the 
failure of a single crop brings famine, grim and 
ghastly ; but in the East the "clamorous iron of toil" 
and the "play of the hammer on the rivet" are the music 
of the early morn and quiet eve. The increase of pop- 
ulation is twice as great in the West as in the East, and 
were it not for emigration the horrors of '46 and '47 
would be constant. After forty years of equal edu- 
cational advantages, illiteracy is 45 per cent and crime 
35 per cent greater in the West than in the East. The 
reduction on rents has been greater in the West than 
in the East. But in the condition and character of the 
two peoples mentally, morally, and physically, ratios 
fail to express the glaring contrast. It is bad enough 
for this primitive Celt, this priest-ridden peasantry, 
this "waste and desert place," this "dark and compara- 
tively uncivilized region," to handicap the acquired 
intelligence and business enterprise of Protestant Ul- 
ster in the Imperial Parliament ; but in an Irish Assem- 
bly what would be the result? Men of the South, who 
know the Negro Question, men of the South, who rec- 
ognize the necessity of white supremacy, see the quin- 
tessence of the issue, and in the present condition of the 
"Emerald Isle" recognize an exact parallel to the post- 
bellum South. The claims of the majority to rule are 
strong, but the fitness and character of that majority 
should not pass unheeded. 

Does Ireland want Home Rule? All the Northeast 
section, numbering one-third of her population and 
over one-half of her intelligence and thrift, numbering 
in their ranks the descendants of Grattan's parliament 



126 FRANKLIN PLATO ELLER 

and O'Connell's faithful followers, bitterly oppose it. 
If her representatives were elected upon the Home 
Rule issue, and if her representatives were elected pro- 
portionately (for an Ulster member represents almost 
twice as many electors as a member from the West), 
and if intimidation and crime were suppressed, and were 
it not for American Fenianism, a majority of her votes 
would be cast for the Union. John Bright said that 
44 of her 85 members who voted for Home Rule sat 
in Parliament on American boodle. All Irishmen who 
are capable of self-government do not desire Home 
Rule, and those who do desire it, desire it less than the 
approval of their respective chiefs. 

What of Catholicism? Gladstone says: "A convert 
to Rome must sacrifice his moral and mental freedom 
and place his loyalty and civil duty at the mercy of 
another." With Home Rule any attempt by the Cath- 
olic majority, bound in the vice of Roman servility 
and gangrened by religious rancor, to establish their 
church or subsidize any of their numerous religious 
fraternities there, as they do elsewhere, would be met 
with armed resistance backed by England's aid. Of 
the 550 Protestant members of Ulster, Ireland, of 
whom 538 were followers of Gladstone before he allied 
himself with Parnell, thereafter only three gave him 
their support. Rome is politic enough to use Pro- 
testant leaders in a Protestant Parliament, but when 
her power becomes absolute who knows the result? 

If there were no other consideration, the character 
of the Nationalist party forbids Home Rule. They 
opposed the Land Bill, giving Fixity of Tenure, Free 
Sale, and Fair Rent; they challenged the sincerity of 
the Government, and during its progress relaxed none 
of their efforts to damage its reception, and after its 



JOHX CARLTOX ELLER 127 

final inscription upon the statute books are straining 
every nerve to insure its failure and to discredit its 
operation with the people of Ireland. Acting on the 
advice of its leaders, whose measures in Parliament 
have been obstruction, it has not scrupled to use vitriol 
and dynamite, the midnight brigand and the skulking 
assassin as the means of usurping the Queen's govern- 
ment, paralyzing land reform and rendering courts of 
justice impossible. This guerilla warfare under oath- 
bound secret societies, the Land League and National 
League, stimulating agrarian discontent to add fuel to 
political revolution, using the boycott to intimidate the 
weak and Fenianism to corrupt the avaricious, has se- 
cured a majority and now they will call it the voice of 
Ireland and the voice of God. These leaders, while 
rendering their followers as destitute of moral sense 
as the Bushmen of Africa, have banished capital, pro- 
moted idleness and unthrift, raised expectations that 
are doomed to disappointment, and have suggested no 
scheme of permanent improvement except confiscation, 
and have not taken under their patronage a single 
work of public usefulness or aided the revival of a sin- 
gle manufacturing industry. With this condition the 
loyal elements of Ireland appealed to England for a 
bill to protect life and property. It was passed tem- 
porarily under Gladstone's leadership ; it restored or- 
der, it set up law, and was enforced by a police which 
was mainly Irish and was supported by England and 
was more orderly than that of England herself. And 
this they call Coercion. It was a removal of the real 
coercion, the Land League and American Fenianism. 
It was an act of humanity, an act of necessity, an act 
of justice. 

Should this savage band of Celts, whose footprints 



128 FRANKLIN PLATO ELLER 

have been stained with blood and marked by ten thou- 
sand agrarian crimes, whose methods have been ob- 
struction, dynamite, and blood, and whose present issue 
is a shame to a civilized community, on whose sabres 
flash vengeance to England, on whose crest, engraven 
by seven centuries of attempt, is traced the indelible 
truism, "Incapable of Self-Government," and on whose 
banner, sketched by lurid hand, gleams that awful 
motto: "The total independence of Ireland and the 
annihilation of England by any means whatever, is 
our goal." Shall this band, then, depraved and dan- 
gerous, be entrusted with the safety, the prosperity, 
and the liberties of five millions of the Queen's sub- 
jects, two millions of whom are good and loyal, and 
who bitterly oppose Home Rule ? 



THE EASTERN QUESTION 

At the close of the Russo-Turkish War, when Rus- 
sia, alone and unaided, had liberated the Christian 
Provinces from Turkish domination, she stipulated 
with Turkey the treaty of San Stefano, securing 
peace and liberty to the Christians ; but England forced 
her to submit to the judgment of the European powers 
at the Congress of Berlin on the ground that the 
"concerns of Turkey are the common concerns of the 
powers of Europe acting in concert." 

Having asserted this to the world, she secretly and 
in the darkness of night, while the Congress of Berlin 
was still sitting to determine these matters of common 
interest, while her ministers at this Congress were as- 
serting that unless this principle was acted upon, they 
would go to war with the six million pounds which 



JOHN CARLTON ELLER 129 

Parliament had voted for that purpose — she at the 
same time concluded a separate agreement with Turkey 
under which those matters of European jurisdiction 
affecting Turkey were coolly transferred to English 
jurisdiction and the whole matter was sealed with the 
bribe of the possession and administration of the Island 
of Cyprus. Forbidding to Russia the right to nego- 
tiate with Turkey alone and deceiving the nations of 
Europe, she stealthily took it herself. Then came 
Great Britain to guarantee Turkish supremacy. In 
this act is selfishness, hypocrisy, and injustice; how 
can any good thing come from a source so corrupt and 
vile? 

YYe have mainly to do with European Turkey, which 
numbers less than six million people, three-fourths of 
whom are Greeks, Armenians, Slavs — professing Chris- 
tianity mainly of the Greek Church, but some of the 
Roman Church. The professors of Islamism number 
less than one- fourth in Europe and two-fifths in Asia, 
and the Turks or ruling class include less than one- 
twentieth of the whole population of the Turkish Em- 
pire. (These figures are taken from Freeman and a 
writer in the Political Science Encyclopedia.) 

The interests of England and the interests of the 
English mean the same thing; the interests of France 
and the interests of the French mean the same thing; 
but the interests of Turkey and the interests of the 
Turks are two opposite things. Turkey does not mean 
that the people of the land are Turks, but that they are 
held in bondage by the Turks. The Turks are alien in 
race, in language, in religion, in historic memories, and 
in the commonest ideals and feelings from every na- 
tion of Europe and from the great majority of the peo- 
ple of Turkey. The Sultan, in whom are vested all 

9 



130 FRANKLIN PLATO ELLER 

civil, military, and religious powers, is not a national 
sovereign, but the despotic chief of foreign oppressors. 
He gives his people no protection ; therefore, they owe 
him no allegiance. He has no right over them unless 
there be right in brute force. They owe him no duties 
except the duty of ridding themselves of him as soon 
as possible. Whatever is good for the Turks is bad 
for Turkey and its people. 

When the Goths and Vandals, the Angles and Sax- 
ons, the Gauls and Normans, even the Bulgarians and 
Hungarians spread desolation and death in their track, 
they mingled the strains of their blood with the blood 
of conquered races, and from the charred and smoking 
waste builded a nobler and grander civilization; but 
the Turks, after conquering the classic sites of Europe 
with their iconoclastic rage, without amalgamation or 
modification by environment, after five hundred years 
of corrupt and despotic rule, without creating one bond 
of national interest or feeling, still rule as an Eastern 
and Mohammedan stranger in the home of a Western 
and Christian people. 

"Byzantines boast that on the clod 
Where once their Sultan's horse has trod, 
Grows neither grass, nor shrub, nor tree." 

Bare desolation and utter ruin are the lasting memo- 
rials of the Moslem power on the once fertile shore of 
the Levant. His government is not misgovernment 
— it is no government; it is organized brigandage 
which levies its remorseless blackmail on the traveling 
public. It is systematic oppression and plunder ; it is 
a denial of the commonest rights of man. The path 
of foulest shame is the surest path to power; and the 
promises of the Sultan are made only to be broken. 



JOHN CARLTON ELLER 131 

Their taxation is unjust, their finances bankrupt, their 
coinage debased, their industry dead. Their whole 
civil and penal legislation, as well as the financial and 
commercial polity, is directly opposed to the best inter- 
ests of three-fourths of the people. 

The Turk is armed, the Christian is unarmed; the 
Turk rules, the Christian has to obey ; the Turk sits in 
the so-called seats of justice and refuses to take the 
evidence of the Christian against the meanest Turkish 
criminal; the Christian's life and property, honor and 
family are at the mercy of every Turk to do with them 
as he chooses. Turkey has repeatedly violated the 
laws of nations, thus justly incurring the penalty of 
dismemberment. 

As the centuries have gone by governmental policies 
have been modified and human rights recognized; but 
for five hundred years the Turkish Government has 
become worse and worse. Its spirit of conquest and 
fire of enthusiasm dead, internal corruption and 
wholesale oppression have gained ground. It has run 
its cycle of rise, perfection, and decline; and its naked 
trunk now only cumbers the ground of the earlier 
seats of Christianity and civilization with the broken 
fragments of an infidel and semi-barbarous empire. 
This stagnant, corrupt, and oppressive outer shell of 
Turkey, incasing three-fourths of the people, can 
never be reformed. Some Christian governments are 
bad, very bad; but law, order, and justice are never 
quite forgotten, and the worst of them are capable of 
reform. But the whole history and character of Tur- 
key is against reform. She has made promises and 
contracts to reform, but only to be broken. Turkey, 
while ruled by the Mohammedan Turk, can never be a 
national government; his religion commands him to 



132 FRANKLIN PLATO ELLER 

conquer and reduce the Christian to bondage, and to- 
day the chief article of traffic in the Turkish Bazaar 
are human beings, and the house of nearly every Turk 
has its Christian slaves. But where the Christians rule 
the government can be national without oppressing 
the Mohammedans, as is the case under Great Britain 
and Russia. Upon the family as a unit of society 
rests individual liberty and social order, domestic fe- 
licity and virtue, national freedom and success; but 
where its head waters are poisoned by the sensualism 
of the Harem, the distortion of human slavery, and the 
blighting curse of polygamy, there is no hope of re- 
form. In this age of rapid progress there is no hope 
for a State whose governmental and social system are 
taken directly from that immutable standard of fanati- 
cism, the Koran. It is their Bible, their statute book, 
their encyclopedia, the manual of their life and learn- 
ing. The theologian, the statesman, the lawyer, the 
physician, the warrior, the historian, the poet, the cap- 
tain of the football team, and the dancing master — all 
must shape their creeds and actions after some cant, 
cast-iron phrase which was dictated twelve hundred 
years ago to a nomadic people by a fanatical camel- 
driver to be scratched on a mutton bone. The cere- 
monies of religion and the despotism of government 
have crushed the life and enthusiasm out of this 
people. 

Since that barbaric wave of Saracen conquest broke, 
ebbed, and fled, Turkey lias lost over three-fourths 
of her land and people ; and every individual and every 
State freed from Turkish rule has become more pro- 
gressive and more free. The high tide of religious 
fervor and the ground swell of self-government would 
sweep that ruling twentieth from the embattled ram- 



JOHX CARLTON ELLER 133 

parts of the Bosphorus did not the strong arm of Eng- 
land interpose. Other conquerors have sooner or later 
made their conquests lawful by giving the people a 
government ; but the Turk came as a robber, and a 
robber he remains; five hundred years of rule by force 
and violence gives him no right to respect or protection. 

England is maintaining this condition not only 
against every outside assailant for whatever cause, but 
against three-fourths of the people themselves, thus 
destroying every noble stimulus and increasing the 
habitual misgovernment. Xo matter how bad that 
government, no matter how great may be the growth 
of virtue, liberty, and intelligence among the people, 
no matter how great may be the disproportion in num- 
ber between the rulers and the ruled, England is bound 
to maintain this foreign despotism of one-twentieth of 
the people intact. Every patriot, a Tell, a Mazzini, a 
Riego, a Rienzi, a Kossuth, a Bolivar, a Washington, 
in struggling for his country must strike, not upon a 
Turkish chain, for that of itself is a chain of sand, but 
upon England's mammoth power. 

England may deny it, but in fact, she is acting upon 
the principle laid down by the treaty of Paris, that "she 
has no right to meddle with the relations of the Sultan 
with his subjects or with the interior administration 
of his Empire." That is to say, the Turk may rob, 
kill, mutilate, do what he pleases ; she will not hinder 
him. but will send men and money to crush every rebel- 
lion and rout every attack made against his govern- 
ment. And this she has done repeatedly ; she has pre- 
vented the English army from saving old men, women, 
and children from the rage of the Turk, and the "Bul- 
garian massacre," in which 15,000 persons were butch- 
ered, she calls a "mere incident " with which she has 



134 FRANKLIN PLATO ELLER 

nothing to do. In her eyes pecuniary interests and 
abstruse political policies are above the interests of 
humanity and the rights of human nature. We are 
not contending for the dismemberment of Turkey, or 
its annexation to Russia. If Turkey's nationality is 
necessary for England's interests and the peace of the 
world, let this Christian majority rule, and let England 
maintain that supremacy if she chooses, or let her take 
the government in hand as she has done that of Egypt. 
The Turk need not be expelled or exterminated; let 
him remain on a common footing, but he must not gov- 
ern or oppress the majority. 

Gladstone says that the only way to do any perma- 
nent good for the Christian provinces is to turn the 
Turkish officials, "bag and baggage," out of them. . . . 

Wheaton says: "The principle of interference is 
authorized where the general interests of humanity 
are infringed by the excesses of a barbarous and des- 
potic government." And he gives as an instance the 
Ottoman Empire. Speaking of the reasons for the 
interference in favor of the Greeks, he says: "Its 
principle was fully justified by the great paramount 
law of self-preservation. 'Whatever a nation may 
lawfully defend for itself, it may defend for another 
people if called upon to interpose.' Interference may 
therefore be safely rested upon this ground alone.'' 
This principle once asserted and acted upon by Eng- 
land, France, and Russia, in the case of Turkey, is 
still recognized and studiously observed by Russia, 
France, and the liberal, progressive, and conscientious 
element in England herself. These four million Chris- 
tians in Europe, three-fourths of the people, who re- 
ceive no protection from their foreign oppressors, and 
therefore owe no allegiance, who are native in that 



JOHN CARLTON ELLER 135 

country and struggling like their neighbors for inde- 
pendence, have by this law, the rule of the majority 
and the rights of human nature, a sacred right to 
nationality and self-government; and because of geo- 
graphical position, community of religious feeling and 
to some extent of race, these people, having been re- 
fused and bitterly opposed by England, have invited 
their sympathizers from the North to aid them. 
Therefore Russia is justified in attempting to liberate 
this people. If these sufferers by themselves are, with 
the aid of Russia, justified in throwing off the Turkish 
yoke, then England cannot be justified in maintaining 
Turkish supremacy. There cannot be two rights di- 
rectly opposite ; there is but one right, and that right is 
with the suffering majority. 



A BRIEF REVIEW OF SCHOLASTICISM, 
HISTORICAL AND CRITICAL 

Ancient Philosophy may be said to have disappeared 
in 529 A. D., when the Athenian schools were closed 
by order of Justinian. 

Hitherto Christian thought had been confined to the 
systematical arrangement of theological dogmas. A 
few theologians, however, as Augustine, had brought 
in elements of philosophical discussion. 

After the settlement of the barbarian races, their 
conversion to Christianity, and the organization of the 
Western Empire under Charlemagne, that able mon- 
arch, desirous of attracting scholars from Ireland and 
Britain to his cause, in 787 A. D., decreed the estab- 
lishment of schools in connection with every abbey of 
his realms. 



136 FRANKLIN PLATO ELLER 

Schools were established and flourished at the Pal- 
ace at Lyons, Orleans, St. Denis, Rheims, Paris, Tours 
and various other places; these became the centers of 
Mediaeval learning and gave the name of scholasticism 
to the world. 

The educational curriculum of the Middle Ages 
consisted of the Trivium of arts : grammar, logic and, 
rhetoric, and the Quadrivium of the sciences : arithme- 
tic, geometry, astronomy, and music. Logic, however, 
soon became the one absorbing study. 

The limits of Scholasticism are confined to the 
period running from the ninth to the fifteenth cen- 
turies, though most active during the twelfth and thir- 
teenth. Realism was the first to gain importance, but 
the contest closed with conceptualism in the lead. 
During the Thirteenth Century the scholastics acquired 
a knowledge of Greek; and gained access to many 
philosophical writings before unknown, chief of which 
were those of Aristotle. The discussion of the scho- 
lastics long remained unnoticed in the obscurity of the 
schools, having no connection with questions of religion 
and politics. It was not till the Eleventh Century that 
Nominalism entered the lists of scholasticism. By the 
middle of the Twelfth Century, Logic had lost most of 
its interest, and the historical compilers superseded 
philosophers and theologians. 

Strictly speaking, Mediaeval thought is confined to 
the logic of Aristotle and the theology of the church. 
Scholasticism begins in discussion of Aristotle's logic; 
it soon applies its logical methods and distinction to its 
treatment of theology. But the conflict did not origi- 
nate in this attempt of logic to extend its system to the- 
ology so much as the belief that scholasticism absorbed 
time and ability which might be better employed in 



JOHN CARLTON ELLER 137 

the service of the church. It was the excitement at- 
tending this attempt to apply logical methods to theo- 
logical mysteries, and the heterodox conclusion which 
were its earliest fruits, that gave scholasticism its 
prime importance during the Middle Ages. 

The inestimable result of this extension of logical 
method to theology was that the systems of the church 
were rationalized or Aristotle's logic was Christianized. 

The scholastics were ingenious commentators and 
acute critics of Aristotle; but they did not dare go 
beyond the limits of his systems or investigate nature 
for themselves. Realism was thus subordinated to 
faith. 

The question which agitated alike the universities, 
the church, and the politics of Europe for centuries; 
which in varying forms was waged both with the pen 
and sword ; and which awaiting any final settlement, 
is still earnestly debated by dialecticians and scientists 
— concerns the nature of genera and species and their 
relation to the individual. 

Realism and Nominalism, the two opposing theo- 
ries, express at bottom "the radical divergence of pan- 
theism and individualism — the two extremes between 
which philosophy seems pendulum-wise to oscillate, 
and which may be said still to avoid their perfect recon- 
ciliation." The text of this discussion, at first a ques- 
tion of logic, is found in the Introduction to Aristotle 
by Porphyry, a Neoplatonist. This text dealt with the 
nature of genera and species. 

Roscelinus, the founder of Nominalism proper, in 
propounding the tritheistic view of the Trinity as a 
natural result of his theory, whereby unless we say the 
three Persons are one thing, in which case Father, Son, 
and Holy Ghost must have been incarnate as one — 



138 FRANKLIN PLATO ELLER 

then we ought to speak of three Gods — caused Real- 
ism to take shape according to the 'theories of Anselm 
and William of Champeaux. Hereafter the question 
at issue is more accurately defined. Because of the 
heretical conclusion involved in Nominalism as set 
forth by Roscelinus, Realism becomes recognized for 
several centuries as the orthodox creed of Philosophy. 
Along with the doctrine of the Trinity and the Incar- 
nation that of Transubstantiation and the Eucharist 
were much discussed. Some sects as Unitarians, etc., 
and many theological doctrines owe their origin to this 
period of dispute. 

The difficulties of Realism, brought out by an ex- 
plicit statement and by the criticism of Abelard, led to 
numerous attempts to reach some more satisfactory 
formula. Thereupon the theory of "Indifference" 
sprung up — this marked a gain for Nominalism, as it 
surrenders the substantiality of universals. At this 
time there were about thirteen different views on the 
question of universals — in this list are all shades of 
opinion, from extreme Nominalism to extreme Real- 
ism. This seems to show that there was no hard line 
of division between the disputants for any length of 
time. It also suggests the belief that there was a 
grain of truth in all the beliefs, but much error in all, 
as well. 

Abelard, successively the pupil of Roscelinus and Wil- 
liam of Champeaux, and a very able dialectician, came 
forward as a severe critic of his masters' doctrines. 
His views were those commonly known as Conceptual- 
ism, or a via media between the extremists of either 
side. He maintained that genera and species which 
are predicated of individual subjects are not things or 
substances, and that this is true however real the facts 



JOHN CARLTON ELLER 139 

may be which are designated by the specific and generic 
names. Or, as one puts it, "Only individuals exist, 
and in the individual nothing but the individual." By 
laying stress not on the mere word, but on the thought 
which the word is intended to convey, he rescued his 
theory from the fortunes of extreme Nominalism and 
gained for it that of Conceptualism. He combated 
the Tritheism of Roscelinus, contending that the three 
Persons were three aspects or attributes of the Divine 
Being. His opinions were held by the more strict 
churchmen as the rash intrusion of an over-confident 
Rationalism. The Rationalistic tendency was identi- 
fied with the Nominalists because they were the im- 
movable. 

Early in the Thirteenth Century the doctrinal ortho- 
doxy became disturbed and many mystical heresies 
sprang up — all due to the introduction of new philo- 
sophical writings through the Arabs. These called 
forth the condemnation of several provincial councils; 
but a closer study of Aristotle by Albertus Magnus, 
Thomas Aquinas and others, sufficed to replace him in 
a position of unquestionable supremacy. 

The Mendicant friars first, and then the Dominicans, 
now came forward as the chief teachers of Christian 
learning and faith. About the close of this century 
the intellectual horizon was extended. The nature of 
universals was no longer discussed so much from a 
logical or metaphysical point of view, but becomes 
more of a psychological question. Other questions, as 
the elements of substance, the principle of individual- 
ism, the origin of ideas, etc., now claim attention. 
Albertus and Aquinas discussed the question of univer- 
sals, but it was no longer the center of speculation ; 



140 FRANKLIN PLATO ELLER 

its form now being that of the principle of individu- 
alism. 

The great opponent and critic of Aquinas was Duns 
Scotus, who had less confidence in the power of reason 
than his opponent. He strengthened Theology by 
maintaining that, the creation of the world was noth- 
ing, the immortality of the soul, etc., was as capable of 
philosophical proof. Thus unconsciously his criti- 
cism hastened disintegration by partially restoring the 
dualism between faith and reason which scholasticism 
had labored so hard to destroy. They differed over 
the freedom of the will — Aquinas tending towards 
Rationalism, Scotus towards Skepticism. Scotus also 
attacked the Thomist doctrine of individualism. 

So bitter and extensive was this rivalry that at the 
opening of the Fourteenth Century the Thomists and 
Scotists divided the philosophical and theological world 
between them. The disappearance of scholasticism is 
preceded by the temporary revival of Nominalism in 
a somewhat different form under William of Occom, 
who claims that everything that exists is individual 
and that this is proven by the bare fact of its exist- 
ence. He heralded the dissolution of scholasticism by 
his severance of philosophy and theology — greatly ex- 
tending the doctrine of Duns Scotus. At first this 
Nominalistic tendency was limited ; but it soon spread 
on all sides. The end of scholasticism came both from 
within and from without. At the beginning of the 
Fifteenth Century mysticism still existed in Germany; 
but the different characters and tongues of European 
nations were now beginning to assert their marked 
individuality; and men's highest interests ceased to be 
ecclesiastical, so the essence of scholasticism, as well 
as its field of activity, was gone. 



JOHN CARLTON ELLER 141 

The three principal doctrines contained in scholasti- 
cism may be thus briefly stated : 

1. Realism, which originated with Plato, is the doc- 
trine that the universal determines the individual, and 
was expressed in the phrase, "universalia ante rem." 
It maintained that classes, genera, species, etc., are 
things, not mere names; that in the region of external 
existence there is a something which corresponds to 
our idea of man, Jwrsc, etc. — distinct from the indi- 
viduals John, William, and black and white horse; 
that the idea exists before the individuals, and gives 
form and shape to them. The position of Realism as 
stated by Plato is as follows : "The idea of a thing 
is that which makes one of the many; which presumes 
the unity and integrity of its own nature runs through 
and mixes with things infinite in number ; and yet, how- 
ever multiform it may appear, is always the same ;" 
also that of every species there is an archetype or ex- 
emplar which shapes the individuals, and that this idea 
has existed from all eternity. 

We fail to see how all the individuals of any class 
can share its one common nature ; for what is unity 
and incapable of division cannot be shared by an indefi- 
nite number of individuals. Our general notions are 
confined to individuals of which we have knowledge ; 
but there could not be the limits if there were an ob- 
jective essence to give form and shape to the indi- 
viduals. 

2. Nominalism, in opposition to Realism, contended 
that the individual determined the universal ; and was 
expressed in the phrase, "universalia post rem." It 
held that the general had no objective existence; that 
genera, species, etc., are names only; and that the 
name is a common sign which can be applied to any 



142 FRANKLIN PLATO ELLER 

number of images which correspond to concrete exam- 
ples which we have seen. As to Nominalism as the 
doctrine that there is nothing universal but names, and 
that we must invent names for such classes as we 
choose to put together, and consequently that Logic is 
nothing more than simple addition and subtraction of 
names — we answer that the truthfulness or falsity of 
propositions would then depend on arbitrary agree- 
ments among men about words. This seems too ab- 
surd to admit. Species and genera exist in nature, 
however dim may be the distinction, and science is not 
mere naming; nor is truth mere truth of words — jus- 
tice, ferocity, cruelty, etc., are something more than 
nominal distinctions ; here conscience and experience 
have erected some real distinctions. 

Nominalists would say in reading a book without 
names of individual objects (which is common enough) 
that there is nothing before the mind except mere 
words. This view seems absurd also. Nominalists 
claim that we cannot form general ideas as that of 
horse, because horses possess contradictory attributes, 
as white, black, large, small, blind horses; but these 
attributes are not the essential parts. There is more 
in horses that is common to them all and which enables 
us to form horses into a class, than there is which dif- 
fers in every individual horse. 

But there is some truth in Nominalism when we use 
words for thoughts ; or signs in Geometry and Algebra 
to represent all possible signs of that particular kind. 
This power is often very valuable as a depository for 
thought. 

3. Conceptualism, or the view held by Aristotle, 
maintains that each exists in the other and is thus ex- 
pressed, "universalia in re." It maintains that in addi- 



JOHN CARLTOX ELLER 143 

tion to the mind's power of forming images of indi- 
vidual things, general notions, and abstract ideas, by 
the representation of the attribute which many indi- 
viduals have in common. In reply to this, however, 
Nominalists urge that general names are only the 
images of individual objects formed by concentrating 
the attention to particular characteristics denoted by 
general names. As to conceptualism it seems to con- 
tain a still greater amount of truth, though not without 
its difficulties. 

It seems that the mind can conceive any number of 
individuals as a single class, and that general names 
suggest certain ideas or mental pictures, otherwise it 
would be impossible to use those general names with a 
clear understanding of their meaning. This idea, 
which is called up by a general name, contains the dif- 
ferent circumstances in which all the individuals de- 
noted by the name agree, and no others. 

Whenever we think or reason about a class we do so 
by means of this general idea. Evidently some idea 
or mental conception is suggested by a general name, 
when we have it or use it with an understanding of a 
meaning. This is the general idea. 

Our cognitive faculties are not limited to our senses 
and imagination ; if they were, then our knowledge 
would be confined to individuals ; and we should be 
unable to form general ideas, nor should we have 
general names for such ideas. But the understanding, 
after comparing particulars and observing relations 
between them, forms classes to which we give general 
names. The idea called up by "wrong" or "right" 
may not be cognizant to the sense or imagination, still 
it is thoroughly understood by the intellect. Individu- 
als are limited to space and time and cannot be imag- 



144 FRANKLIN PLATO ELLER 

ined out of their own places; but the general idea of 
man is confined to no particular race, country, or year, 
so this idea seems to be reached by a process of 
abstraction. 

The mind seems to be able to consider such quality 
by itself and abstracted from all others, and by that 
means forms abstract ideas. 

The mind seems capable of forming ideas of color, 
shape, movement, etc., qualities of an object separate 
from the object, though it is impossible for these quali- 
ties to exist separate from the object to which they 
belong. This is done by abstraction evidently. 

The mind can thus frame for itself a general idea 
of color, shape, etc., distinct from all the particular 
colors, shapes of the object observed, by carefully not- 
ing what is common to all and what distinguishes them 
one from another. 

Thus by a process of abstraction we fix the mind on 
the circumstances in which a number of individuals 
are found to agree or resemble each other ; and then 
by a process of generalization we arrange them accord- 
ing to this common circumstance into classes to which 
we give a common name. 



JOHN CARLTON ELLER 145 



introduction to tl)£ Writings anb Speeches of 
3obn TEtler 

For most of the writings of John Eller no apology 
would need to be made from the standpoint of compo- 
sition if all of them were complete. He loved to write 
as well as he loved to speak ; and in his mind the two 
were closely associated. His writings have much of 
the fire and enthusiasm of the debater, with perhaps an 
occasional overuse of the rhetoric of the orator; and 
his best speeches have much of the ease and elegance 
of more finished writing. His fondness for writing, 
combined with the fact that he lived through his 
senior year — the most productive period in the life of 
a college man — accounts for the slight preponderance 
of his writings over those of his brother. 

"Man's Inhumanity to Man" was written for the 
contest for the Mangum Medal for Oratory at the 
Commencement of 1896. As in the case of "Institu- 
tions the Result of Growth," the choice of the subject 
was the result of work done in the preparation of a 
thesis. The subject of the thesis was, "What Is 
Morality?" Being intensely interested in the subject, 
the writer decided to construct an oration out of the 
material he had collected. "Morality and Life" was 
the title of this oration as first written ; but being dis- 
satisfied with it, he decided to write another. He had 
discovered that "there is nothing more difficult than 
the transformation of a thesis, the aim of which is 
to prove, into an oration, the aim of which is to move." 
It was found very desirable to include egoism as well 
as altruism in a popular discussion of morality. Ac- 

10 



146 FRANKLIN PLATO ELLER 

cordingly the oration was re-written with many addi- 
tions and alterations, and entitled, "Man's Inhumanity 
to Man." The thesis is printed in this volume not 
only because of its close relation to the oration, but 
because of its power of thought and expression. It 
throws much light also upon the thoroughness with 
which its author performed his college class work. 

"A Plea for American Commerce" was spoken in 
the inter-society contest at the Commencement of 1894, 
while the speaker was still a Sophomore. Readers 
will find it instructive to compare this oration with 
that spoken at Commencement two years later, noting 
the improvement in language and thought in spite of 
the excellence of the earlier oration. 

The debate opposing rigid party organization was 
written for the inter-society debate on March 4, 1895. 

The second speech of the debate (incomplete) op- 
posing the tendency towards centralization in the 
National Government was delivered in the best de- 
bater's contest in the Di Society (held on April 19, 1895. 
The manuscript is written in pencil and is incomplete. 

The article on "The Origin and Rise of Government" 
is evidently a thesis; for what course it was written 
and when, cannot now be ascertained ; but it is so clear 
and convincing a treatment of a much discussed sub- 
ject that we include it here, believing it worthy of 
preservation. 

The next article, which is printed from a manu- 
script written in pencil, is the first or second draft of a 
speech delivered before the trustees at Raleigh in be- 
half of the non- fraternity men of the University. It is 
included here because it is so sane and clear an expo- 
sition of the grounds of those who led the anti- frater- 
nity fight. The spirit of the whole discussion is 



JOHN CARLTON ELLER 147 

admirably conservative and the thought thoroughly 
mature. 

The articles written for the ''White and Blue" were, 
of course, written for temporary ends in moments 
snatched from college studies, and should not be 
judged as articles written for a college magazine of 
high literary standards. 

Of the two poems included in this collection, the first 
was printed in the "White and Blue" for September 
21, 1894, and signed "Carlton, '96." The second is 
found on an undated sheet of writing paper with "J- C. 
Eller, '96," signed at the bottom of the page. 

The next piece of writing is untitled, undated, and 
incomplete. It seems probable that it is the first draft 
of the essay with which John won the Essayist's 
Medal. The manuscript, which is written in pencil, is 
broken in at least two places. We print it here because 
of its many excellent passages and the splendid senti- 
ment which it contains. We entitle it Modern Chiv- 
alry. 

The Class Farewell was delivered at the close of the 
Commencement of 1896. It forms a fitting conclusion 
to the life and writings of a noble character and a 
eifted intellect. 



& 



MAN'S INHUMANITY TO MAN 

Man's inhumanity to man has caused countless mil- 
lions to mourn. Man's humanity to man shall cause 
countless millions to be glad. Chastened in the val- 
ley of the shadow, oft bathed in blood and blinded by 
tears, mankind has ever scaled a loftier height of free- 
dom and caught a clearer view of the world. 

The drama of universal history acted through the 



148 



FRANKLIN PLATO ELLER 



ages in the tragic strife of races, has ever had for its 
leading thought the relation of man to man. 

In the distant dawn of the world the formula of this 
problem was uttered when the first murderer, stained 
with the blood of his bosom brother, in the guilt and 
anguish of his stricken soul, cried aloud to his Creator : 
"Am I my brother's keeper?" 

In (the fiery furnace of his impassioned heart was 
forged the burning thought that has seared its way 
through the tortuous grooves of man's institutions and 
left its stamp on all his workmanship. 

Deep-graven on the human heart there lives the im- 
mortal law of individual right and the enduring ordi- 
nance of social duty. The imperfect attainment of 
their true harmony is traced in the long record of 
man's inhumanity to man; its ideal hope is enshrined 
in the vision of world-wide peace. 

Whenever these twin-born principles of right and 
duty are distraught by the strain of selfishness, then 
breeds the violent brood of strife and spreads on 
earth an Inferno of infinite suffering, a hell of human 
hate. The French people, in their furious, frenzied 
zeal, sowed the dragon's teeth of vengeful hate and 
reaped a harvest of terror. Like the deadly tread of 
Attila, whose fated footfall left a baneful blight 
where'er it pressed, man's inhumanity to man has 
spread its desolation where life, liberty, and love were 
wont to reign. Everywhere and at all times its pres- 
ence has palsied and its touch destroyed. 

The human race has trod a long and weary way. 
Like a vast caravan, forever on the march, it often 
seems to encamp for centuries; to halt at some great 
oasis of ease, where the siren song of luxury lures 
away the heroism of man as the mighty hosts of Han- 



JOHN CARLTON ELLER 149 

nibal were weakened by the sweet languor of the Cap- 
uan air. 

But human progress never goes backward. "All 
that was deeply good and truly great in the workman- 
ship of the past, though shattered into inchoate frag- 
ments, ever incarnates itself anew and lives still in the 
freer life and broader character of the world." The 
golden deeds of the past were "stepping stones to no- 
bler heights. They are -the setting of the diamond, the 
Time-vesture of the Eternal." As long as "every hu- 
man heart is human," it will leap to life in the martyr- 
dom of Socrates; it will thrill in the courage of Colum- 
bus; it will swell with joy at the heroism of the truth- 
loving Luther. Our pulses beat with pride in the heri- 
tage of glory bequeathed us by the faithful fathers of 
our revolution and our intrepid brothers who followed 
the knightly Lee and his stern victor to the last sad 
tragedy at Appomattox. 

The cloud-capped summit of Mitchell's Mount will 
ever stand, an eternal tribute to the heroic service of 
its hapless discoverer. In these and a thousand more 
deeds of devotion there lives the deathless inspiration 
of human hope and courage. Through the heritage of 
human heroism and the energy of dauntless deeds, 
has been wrought the splendor of the modern world 
and garnered the glory of our civilization. 

But luminous as is our century's life with the glow- 
ing light of progress, it still holds its myriad wrongs. 
Even the higher races of men drain the energy of their 
life-blood in the wasting conflict of war or the mainten- 
ance of military standards. Russia rests on a volcano 
of pent-up Nihilism, Germany rocks in the quaking 
throes of socialistic thought; Spain staggers to her 
fall in intoxicated folly of mediaeval tyranny. Eng- 



150 FRANKLIN PLATO ELLER 

land secures her bonds and collects her usury by means 
of fleets and armies, stationed at every gateway of the 
Orient. Across the horizon of Europe there lowers 
the endless Eastern question, portentious of strife and 
angry with the jargon of religions, ithe raillery of 
races, and the jealousy of powers. 

The assassin Turk traces his red-handed carnage 
across the defenseless land of Armenia. God-fearing 
and Godforsaken people, brothers to us in race and 
religion since the ark rested on thy topmost crag, every 
flood tide of human conquest has beat 'hard against thy 
mountain walls. Since Xerxes shook thy plains with 
the tread of his marching millions, and the crusader 
yielded his life to rescue the shrine of our Saviour, thy 
land has been the battlefield of contending nations and 
the gateway of migrating races. Unhappy people, thy 
heartrending wail may well startle the despot and 
touch to tenderness and tears the swelling heart of the 
Western World. But thy wrongs must endure till 
another, a wiser, a holier crusade of Christian charity 
shall wrest again and forever hold those lands that 
gave birth to truth. 

Here in beloved America, we must make the sad con- 
fession of man's inhumanity to man. The industrial 
warfare, that dealt disaster at Homestead and Pullman, 
unless dispelled by the warm breath of reform, will 
lay our land in waste and rend its happiness in twain. 

At this moment our fellow countrymen are borne 
down with the problem of gold and silver. The greed 
of gain has thrust its hawklike hand between these 
twin-born and necessary servants of commerce, heed- 
less of the injustice done and forgetful that it is no 
less dishonest to demand the dearest dollar, than it is 
to pay the cheapest. Our daily practice makes a mock- 



JOHN CARLTON ELLER 151 

ery of our daily prayer : "Forgive us our debts as we 
forgive our debtors." The American people in the 
ridiculous paradox of public opinion, crush the prac- 
tice of anarchy as a political crime, but in the industrial 
world foster it as a virtue. 

But industrial inhumanity is not all. The moral 
sense of the nation, hypnotized with selfish fear, hears 
with little heed the Cuban cry for liberty. Like the 
poor and starving Lazarus, begging before the palatial 
door of Dives, prostrate Cuba is at our gate beseeching 
us in the affluence of our wealth and freedom to grant 
the gift of a paltry crumb of service. Shall the crime 
of our indifference or the glory of our support take its 
place on the page of this tragic struggle? Proud and 
imperious Spain ! Though thy mariners gave the 
world's map a hemisphere and won domain o'er the 
wave and the Western World, their task was done 
when they had found a home for liberty. The irony of 
fate, the motto of thy prime, "Nc plus ultra," was pro- 
phetic of thy future. For thee there is no more be- 
yond. As thy bloody drama in the New World opened 
with the crimes of Cortez and Pizarro, so it closes with 
the inhuman butcheries of a W T eyler. An impotent 
world awaits to applaud as the curtain falls on this 
last and final act, intent to swell the gladsome climax : 
"Cuba is free" 

"In this sordid age, when the purple of royalty bows 
to the yellow crest of Mammon, when the mark of 
merit is the measure of the purse," we need the moral 
might of true men ; men not laden with title nor opulent 
in wealth, but strong in the strength of freedom and 
rich in human sympathy : men, who can lock arms with 
the lordliest, stand breast to breast with the mightiest, 
and amid figures grown colossal with wealth and full- 



152 FRANKLIN PLATO ELLER 

ness, 'touch the shoulder of endeavor with the accolade 
of honor, lift patriotism above party and principle 
above price. Men, such as these, imbued with the 
spirit of Monroe, can give to our restless people 
another "Era of good feeling" and establish our nation 
as an exemplar and arbiter for the Republics of the 
Western World. 

As the resistless rush of mighty Niagara would be 
void of its splendor and bereft of its beauty with- 
out the silvery spray that crowns its crest, so will 
our great nervous civilization lose its vital beauty 
without the lovely spirit of Christian humanity . The 
title of our freedom, fixed in the enchanted parch- 
ment of the Constitution, can be held only at the price 
of eternal vigilance. Let us hearken, then, to the 
angel-Whisperings of conscience and the loud acclaim 
of history, as they repeat to us the eternal accents of 
the moral law. 

Too much (has our life been measured by a theory 
of rights, regardless of a confession of duties. The 
loveliness of life is too often lost in the search for the 
means of living. The greatness of a nation is not in 
the phosphorescent glare of its battlefields nor in the 
Golgothas sown with the trophies of inhuman triumph. 
It is in the strength of its manhood and the purity of 
its life. 

Though the roar and rush of our vast machinery 
should silence the music of the spheres and our wealth 
were worth the world, its power cannot frighten his- 
tory nor forbid Eternal Justice to write with fiery 
finger on the walls of our institutions : "Weighed in 
the balances and found wanting." The bulwarks of 
the commonwealth must be girded with the resistless 



JOHN CARLTON ELLER 153 

splendor of the moral law and fortified by a virtuous 
citizenship. 

And we shall win. There is lit within the window 
of humanity's soul a spirit that shall make the glooms 
of its morning the glory of its prime. Dowered with 
a destiny of divine promise, man shall ever enhance his 
heritage by deeds of devotion and the Golden Rule 
shall yet reign supreme as the basal law of human 
life, the rich revelation that crowns the freedom of 
man. 

Despite the long record of man's inhumanity to man, 
this closing century is strewn with many holy traces 
of Christian service. The abolition of slavery, the 
growth of popular freedom, the impulse for missions, 
the benevolence of philanthropy, the growing demand 
for arbitration — these and much more are prophetic 
tokens of the approach of another century clad in the 
white splendors of perpetual peace. 

It is the glory of the Anglo-Saxon that he leads in 
the van of higher morals. He renounced the way of 
human slavery and the world is walking in his path. 
Wherever on the dim border of the globe there is a 
haven or harbor, it is flecked with the white wings of 
his sail. Where'er he goes the fragrance of his pres- 
ence lingers in the peace offerings of his civilization. 

Meet it is that the closing century should be crowned 
with the peace- victories of arbitration. The eternal 
searchlight of truth has revealed the majesty of peace 
and flashed afar the beauty of its works. The sword, 
which was never more than a hideous gleam in the 
darkness, must rust in the relic chamber of the race. 
May the consummation of the grand scheme of Eng- 
lish arbitration call forth for a second time the electric 
bolt of the Atlantic cable, as it pulsates the wondrous 



154 FRANKLIN PLATO ELLER 

message: "What hath God wrought," throughout the 
oozy dungeons of the rayless deep. The English race 
needs no Isle of Delos whereon to gather for the glad 
intercourse of fellowship, nor any Temple of Janus, 
with closed gates, to tell the short intervals of peace. 
Let it register in the azure infinitude of heaven the 
sacred vow of justice, a flaming beacon to light the 
world to the sure and unsullied civilization "toward 
which the whole creation moves." 

About the river of human life there is a wintry 
wind : it is the chilling blast of man's inhumanity to 
man. But on its billowy surface there ever gleams the 
glad radiance of a God-given sunshine : it is the glow- 
ing promise of man's 'humanity to man. And as sure 
as God reigns and His purpose lives, the stream of 
human progress flows onward to the eternal haven of 
universal peace forever guarded by the sacred citadel 
of truth. 



WHAT IS MORALITY 

From that remote time when God spoke to the first 
man and asked, "Where art thou?" and to the first 
murderer and demanded, "Where is thy brother?" 
the most practical and immediate interest for man has 
ever been 'his relation to man. Throughout all the 
succession of human-tide, the question has ever become 
more imperative, "Am I my brother's keeper?" And 
to us this question is propounded with greater empha- 
sis than ever before. 

We are living at the high-tide of human history. 
Never before, it is believed, has there been such far- 
reaching human intercourse, such surging interest 
throughout the great deep of human life, such world- 



JOHN CARLTON ELLER 155 

wide complexity and intricate inter-dependence of 
human relationship. The phenomenal achievements 
of material civilization, the stupendous conquests of 
environment, the growth of scientific knowledge — 
these and many more influences have profoundly 
touched the widening world of ethics. Indeed, our 
age, more than any preceding it, may well be termed 
the Ethical Era; for its most pervasive interest clings 
around the relation of man to man. Its life is busied 
with the complex problems of human relationship. 

The relation of man to man is the human problem, 
ever recurring for solution wherever man exists. It 
is the question, What is Morality, and it is this wide 
significance it has for mankind that gives it its vast 
philosophical import. 

To discover the truth and meaning of this relation- 
ship, we must first necessarily make an analysis of the 
moral consciousness, which underlies all human rela- 
tions or moral deeds. In such an analysis we discover 
that the latent moral consciousness is composed of a 
complex mental content about the self, other selves, 
and the mutual relation between the two terms. Every 
moral consciousness has this constitution, else what 
would be the significance in calling the deed, which it 
directs, moral? For moral is applied to the relations 
existing between men. 

Moreover, these elements are present in all moral 
volition. We cannot think without terms standing in 
relation, and without thought this consciousness is in- 
conceivable. This fundamental basis of the character 
of the moral consciousness tells us that man cannot 
escape the responsibility of moral life. 

While these elements of the moral consciousness are 
constant, moral action is ever particular and changing. 



156 FRANKLIN PLATO ELLER 

The moral act necessarily varies as the content of the 
elements of the moral consciousness changes. But the 
consciousness in its general aspect is universal. While 
moral activity is as varied in concrete expression as 
humanity itself, still the moral consciousness is as uni- 
versal as man. It is one and fundamental. Thus we 
make the distinction : Moral action is the conscious 
response of the self to the mutual inter-dependence of 
the self and other selves; the moral consciousness is 
the recognition of the reality of the self and other 
selves as moral, and their relationship. 

So it would seem that this consciousness must be 
continuous from the birth of self-consciousness, though 
probably at first so vague as to evade discovery. The 
very idea of self implies that of not-self. Self sees 
its existence in the mirror of externality. It learns to 
know itself by interpreting the outer and makes itself 
intelligible only by objectification. 

The birth of morality comes as a natural conse- 
quence in every individual life and in the life of every 
race. There is a time for each when it is not existent 
— its potentiality is not recognized — it has not yet 
arrived at this stage of self-realization. 

This consciousness seems to arise out of the life of 
physical want and necessity. The vague and self -less 
mist of consciousness which prefaces the beginning of 
human being is but a bundle of physical wants. It 
simply responds to sensations and seeks to retain its 
passive pleasure by the removal of impending pain. 
In this vague activity for self-preservation the self is 
restricted by repetition of response and established by 
persistent habit, at last gaining a fixed standing point, 
where the ego feels itself a reality and distinct from an 
external world. 



JOHN CARLTON ELLER 157 

This, in general, then, is the birth of self-conscious- 
ness and with it of other-consciousness. But the moral 
consciousness as such is not yet awakened. It still 
slumbers, but it stirs with trembling life in this first 
stage of its nativity. The content is physical. The 
self is felt as a mere something and all else is a mass 
of things, looked upon as legitimate prey for self- 
gratification. Still in this stage we may trace the rudi- 
ments of morality, an embryonic ethics. It is the bio- 
logical function of all physical life both to seek nutri- 
tion of self and reproduction of self for other selves. 
Here we may see the dim basis for the conscious strug- 
gle for life and for the life of others. "These two 
functions run their parallel course — or spiral course, 
for they continuously intertwine — from the very dawn 
of life. They are involved in the fundamental nature 
of protoplasm itself." (Drummond: Ascent of Man, 
p. 13). This stage is the animal stage of being. 
Trace its growth a step higher and the content of the 
consciousness has filled — reason has dawned — animal 
has become man — and man has become moral. The 
primal instinct laid the track for reflection and thought 
analyzed and synthesized the realities and relations, at 
first discovered by feeling. The truer nature of self 
appears. It is not merely a physical, self-asserting 
atom. It is moral and social. Through the growth of 
reason the nature of the other self has changed into 
persons as well as things. As Emerson pointed out, 
"Persons are love's world," and this distinction sug- 
gests the whole scope of morality. 

This distinction in the content of consciousness is at 
once operative in the self. The common nature and 
kinship of self and other persons (at first limited in 
number and range) are perceived. "As in water, face 



158 FRANKLIN PLATO ELLER 

answereth to face, so the heart of man to man." It is 
the objective image of the nature sleeping within us, 
that wakes it up and startles it into self-knowledge. 
The living exhibition in another of higher affections 
than we have known, far from remaining unintelligible 
to us, is the grand means of spiritual culture, the 
quickener of conscience, and the opener of new faith. 
The natural language of every passion of which we are 
susceptible speaks to us with a marvellous magic and 
calls up fresh islands and provinces of consciousness 
wnere there was a blank before." (Martineau : Types 
of Ethical Theory, Vol. 2, p. 63). 

The conscious ministration of others to the self 
reveals the fact that it has rights and the inseparable 
thought simultaneously appears (that to these others it 
owes duties. Then, right and duty stand as the neces- 
sary counterpart of each other* The ethical, the moral 
consciousness has been born. 

"Thus man beginning as a percipient consciousness, 
apprehending single objects in space and time, and as 
an appetitive self bent upon single gratification, has 
ended as a rational being — a consciousness purged of 
its selfishness and isolation, looking forward openly 
and impartially on the universe of things and being. 
He has ceased to be a mere animal, swallowed up in 
the moment and the individual, seeing his intelligence 
only in selfish satisfaction. He is no longer bound 
down by the struggle for existence, looking on every- 
thing as a mere thing, a mere means. He has erected 
himself above himself and his environment." (Wal- 
lace: Fourth Introductory Essay to Hegel's Philosophy 
of Mind, p. 172). 

The ethical sense thus born changes according to its 
content. Development, education, evolution, civiliza- 



JOHN CARLTON ELLER 159 

tion or whatever else we choose to call the process of 
self-realization is dependent largely upon this moral 
content. But the moral content no less depends upon 
environment and education. At first the reason sees 
the self in kinship with but a small and limited circle. 
Its growth widens until at last all mankind and even 
all nature is comprehended. Reason at last gains the 
intuition of the unity of the world, and "One touch of 
nature makes the wfaole world kin." "In historical 
development a relentless logic is at work leading sym- 
pathy to conquer not only personal egoism, but also 
the egoism of family and of nation and creed. Impar- 
tial knowledge works into the hands of widest sympa- 
thy and both come to a stop only at natural bounda- 
ries." (Hoffman: Outlines of Psychology, p. 256). 

The movement has thus been one of self-realization. 
Having the moral law written on his 'heart, man in- 
stinctively reaches after its realization in the attitude 
of Good Faith, with which he enters the world. But 
this instinct is only an impelling force. It needs guid- 
ance and this alone is reached through experience, 
through knowledge. Thus the true moral conscious- 
ness is a fusion of knowing and feeling. Feeling sup- 
plies the dynamic energy; knowing furnishes the 
agency for application. The proper adjustment of the 
two gives the fullest volition, the highest morality. 
The relation in which we stand to our fellowmen is 
twofold : attraction and repulsion. "The element of 
attraction we call love ; that of repulsion constitutes 
the element of individuality. The attraction is the 
impulse of the reason, which feels the fundamental 
unity of all life. The repulsion corresponds with the 
understanding, which separates one life from all others. 
This twofold instinct teaches us to seek the good of 



160 FRANKLIN PLATO ELLER 

others and to leave them their freedom. Experience 
alone can teach us what is for their good, and how 
much freedom may be allowed to each and at the same 
time the freedom of all be preserved." (Everitt: 
Science of Thought, p. 151). 

Thus we have seen the birth and growth of the moral 
sense. In the large or small, man begins as a physical 
being and his civilization is marked in large degree by 
the standard of his morality. The basement of his 
being is darkened by selfish animality and it is only 
when he looks out through the spiritual attitude of his 
nature that he begins truly to realize himself, assume 
his true freedom, and recognize the divine goodness of 
the world. The process is distinctively one of evolu- 
tion. 

Morality, then, is the universal of man. It is so be- 
cause it is human. Based in feeling, discovered in know- 
ing, directed in willing, it permeates at once the whole 
tissue of human consciousness. And it is this univer- 
sality that gives to it its deepest meaning and most sig- 
nificant interpretation. Mian is moral because he must 
be. Unless he be either a brutish beast or a guileless 
god, it is an unavoidable necessity. He is built on 
the moral plane and cannot escape it. Thus morality 
is life. It is a fundamental, universal, arid persistent 
human attribute. 

Like life, morality is the struggle of the individual 
to become the universal. This is the formula of life 
(Everitt: Science of Thought, p. 106), and therefore 
of morality. The individual man is self-limited, but 
he holds the potential universal within him. The es- 
trangement of self and realization of the universal is 
therefore the established line of life. Mian is an 
individual, but he is more than an individual. 



JOHN CARLTON ELLER 161 

He gets his existence by relation to other and 
richer realities. A self-sufficient individual is incon- 
ceivable. The moral sense demands the individual in 
relation with other individuals. The self becomes a 
deeper reality in proportion as it establishes its connec- 
tion with society and humanity. Thus great men are 
always those who fulfill in some way the unattained 
yearnings of humanity. They simply interpret the 
deeper truths of life and bring to light those things 
that touch to enthusiasm the common nature of man- 
kind. The insight of genius, as Carlyle puts it, is "a 
co-operation with the real tendency of the world." 
The hermit and misanthrope are moral and social para- 
doxes. They are types of inhumanity. In the words 
of Professor Peabody, of Harvard, "True liberty is 
the discovery of one's place in the universal organism." 
Thus it must be clear that man is related to man in the 
widest sense, if he would only realize it. Humanity 
has a common nature which commands the voluntary 
response of our sympathies. And this in turn reveals 
to us the end and law of our conscious activity and 
being. 

We have before us, then, in morality, two terms: 
Self and other-self. I and thou are in relation and by 
that relation my rights are thy duties ; my duties are 
thy rights. Thus each term has its own claim and 
validity. From the standpoint of either term there 
are two aspects which indicate the whole sphere of 
ethical volition. The one regards the self as the center 
of all reality and the cynosure of all duty; the other, 
losing sight of self, regards the fellow-self as the cen- 
tral reality and the one demanding service. One aspect 
gives rise to selfish motives ; the other to motives of 
goodwill and sympathy. "One begets competition, 
11 



162 FRANKLIN PLATO ELLER 

self-assertion, war; the other, unselfishness, self-efface- 
ment, peace." (Drummond: Ascent of Man, p. 19). 
Egoism is the term which stands for the impulses of 
self; Altruism is applied to the motives which aim to 
secure the good of others. 

Thus the duality of the moral life is apparent. "It 
is the essential nature of myself, as finite, equally to 
assert and, at the same time, to pass beyond itself ; and 
hence the objects of self-sacrifice and of self -advance- 
ment are equally mine." (Bradley: Appearance and 
Reality, p. 417). There are two elements of self and 
other-self, and the aspect varies as the current of inter- 
est is turned inward toward self or outward toward 
others. It is the twofold basis of the moral sense, 
repulsion and attraction, seen at a new standpoint, and 
again we must say experience is the proper judge of 
the relative value of either. 

Egoism is undoubtedly the predominating element 
in the primitive development of man. It is so because 
of the dominance of the physical. The self, busied 
with its immediate wants, magnifies its own impor- 
tance because it has not yet acquired the long-sighted 
vision that comes with thought and reflection. The 
reasoned unity of mankind is no early intuition of the 
human mind. Thus egoism is the forerunner of altru- 
ism. Both grow out of man's nature and are prima- 
rily instinctive. They become binding just as they are 
recognized by the intellect as establishing right or im- 
posing obligation. 

Here, then, we find again the exemplification of the 
individual and the universal in the ethical life. Ego- 
ism stands for self-assertion, for the individual ; altru- 
ism stands for self-sacrifice, for the universal. One 
represents the struggle for life, and is a disruptive 



JOHX CARLTOX ELLER 163 

force; the other means the struggle for the life of 
others and is a social, constructive force. Both are 
necessary and proper impulses. The difficulty inheres 
in the duality. Where to draw the line, how make an 
equable harmonization — these, which at least are the 
problems of all reality, confront us for solution. 

The self is real and has its demands. It is of prime 
and immediate importance. It must not surrender the 
charter of its rights at any hazard. "The struggle for 
life, as life's dynamic, can never wholly cease. In the 
keenness of its energies, the splendor of its stimulus, 
its bracing effect on character, its wholesome tension 
throughout the whole range of action, it must remain 
with us to the end." (Drummond: Ascent of Man, 
p. 212). 

On the other hand, the self must recognize its wide 
relationships and its imperative duties to its fellows. 
Even from selfish motives it cannot live secluded, for 
it is helplessly social and dependent. As it has its be- 
ing by others it must lead its life for others. 

'"X'ature makes no move, Society achieves no end, 
the Cosmos advances not one step, that is not depend- 
ent on co-operation ; and while the discords of the 
world disappear with growing knowledge, science only 
reveals with increasing clearness the universality of 
its reciprocities." (Ibid., p. 241). 

Thus the two terms stand over against each other 
apparently hostile and irreconcilable. But in the light 
of reason the conflict stands forth as the manifest 
working of divine goodness. As the universal is unin- 
telligible apart from the individual, as unity cannot 
exist save in variety, so humanity cannot survive and 
grow except in the organization of its parts, the differ- 
entiated individual integers. 



164 FRANKLIN PLATO ELLER 

Likewise, self and the individual cannot be born, grow, 
or live, without the sustaining relationship of human 
society. The individual, continually striving to realize 
his better nature, to elevate himself by mutual service 
with others ; humanity, as a whole, working to make 
every individual better, this is the dual force of moral 
life; the positive dynamic that impels man heavenward. 
It is the shuttle of the eternal loom and its ultimate 
web is human hope and happiness. 

Both impulses are good in their sphere, but the 
extreme prosecution of either is harmful. Thus the 
reign of extreme egoism would yield an inferno of 
infinite suffering, a hell of human hate. France, in 
the blinding of her zeal, tried it and verily it resulted 
in a Reign of Terror. It leads to anarchy in the 
State and atheism in religion. 

On the other hand, the reign of altruism, if it were 
possible of attainment, would be as senseless as pure 
egoism is wicked. It would lead inevitably to the ab- 
solutism of socialism in the State and inert stagnation 
in religion. Happily, the eternal message comes to us : 
''Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are 
Caesar's, and unto God the things that are God's." 
We must first of all be men. To be that is to be indi- 
viduals great by virtue of wide and living relationship. 
Character on one hand and service on the other — these 
are the two positive dual forces that count for true life 
in the world of ethics. Integrity and love must ever 
stand in alliance if either the individual or society 
would realize its fuller growth. 

Thus we see how both egoism and altruism strike 
into each other as mutually inter -dependent. If it be 
said that the validity of both impulses is contradictory, 
let it be answered that so is life. Life is our supreme 



JOHN CARLTON ELLER 165 

test, and it presents countless contradictions. It is 
richer than any of its aspects, but because its aspects 
appear to be contradictory is no proof of their utter 
unreality. The Greek sophist carried his theory of 
individualism to a fatal extreme and it went to pieces 
by the sheer force of its own inherent weakness. In- 
dividualism, while it has its degree of truth, is but one 
phase of it. It needs the principle of solidarity to help 
it out. Looked at from its own angle, either egoism or 
altruism appears to supply the needs of life. But their 
true rank in the world of ethics is equal; their spheres 
are co-operative. 

It must be quite clear, then, that morality is a strug- 
gle. Misunderstanding and unreason array self 
against self, and the way of life is strewn with prob- 
lematic confusion. It is so because it is an incomplete 
stage of human life. The individual is not yet the 
universal, but he is struggling to be. The moral man 
is thus working toward the universal and this is the 
only way to truth. It is in this very struggle which 
inheres in morality that we find its power and proph- 
ecy. The burning sense of ought is a dynamic force 
that impels us forward irresistibly. When strife ends, 
goodness and virtue end also. "Der Rechte, das Gute 
fuhrt ewig strieb." 

In the thought of Hegel (Geo. S. Morris: Hegel's 
Philosophy of the State and of History, pp. 124-5), 
"The only way in which the true universal can be es- 
tablished is through the successive assertion — self- 
assertion — and negation of the particular; the only 
way in which substantial freedom can be realized is 
through the assertion of formal, subjective freedom 
and its negation. Thus the human failures of history 
are divine or providential successes. The apparent 



166 FRANKLIN PLATO EIXER 

evil is partly good in the making ; it is the 'cunning of 
reason/ wihich allows selfish interest to have its own 
way and yet makes it ministerial to the ends of reason." 

Thus morality, far from being complete, issues into 
religion. Just as the physical remains suspended in 
the moral, so does religion include morality. Indeed, 
the moral has all the while been inseparably related 
with the religious, for they are branches of a common 
trunk. In religion man is bound directly to God; in 
morality man is bound to man, because of their com- 
mon relation to God. Thus morality is an expression 
of religion; religion is the life of morality. The one 
without the other is unreal. 

Historically, the transition from Judaism to Chris- 
tianity is the clearest illustration of the distinction of 
the two. "Judaism was a religion of law. Christian- 
ity is a religion of love. Judaism sought to control the 
life by a system of external rules. Christianity seeks 
to control the life by an inward principle of love. 
Every duty is susceptible of being performed on either 
of these planes ; but none is complete until it has been 
translated from law to love, until, instead of being the 
result of a principle of duty acting upon one from the 
outside, it flows out of the inmost and essential nature 
of the person who performs the act." (Everitt: 
Science of Thought, p. 220). 

Moral law is necessary for the great mass of weak- 
ling humanity, for it has not yet reached a truly re- 
ligious plane. Here morality is necessarily transi- 
tional. 

It is the interpretation and emphasis of these truths 
that make Christianity the religion of the ages. Recog- 
nizing as it does the validity of the physical, the moral, 
and the spiritual and their inter-dependence, it becomes 



JOHN CARLTON ELLER 167 

at once the life — religion. It is grounded in life, 
works in life, and ever seeks for the high realization 
of man's potentiality. Christianity thus keeping close 
to life ever impels the individual to struggle towards 
the universal. Christian ethics supplies the truest 
basis for morality because it never loses sight of the 
universal ideal which we ought to attain. 

The trouble with most moral systems of the world 
has been the dominance of a code of rules, whose 
growth out of life was not perceived and whose con- 
tent was not the true expression of the people's life. 
Buddhism sought deliverance from selfhood. Chris- 
tianity seeks delivery from selfishness. The Buddhist 
desired riddance from life ; the Christian clings to life 
with hope and energy. The one's belief led to passiv- 
ity ; the other's to activity. The one hoped to free 
himself from evil by passively renouncing not only all 
action, but life itself; the other hopes to conquer by 
action and helps himself while serving others. 

Christianity is the summation and coronation of all 
preceding religions. The thought of the unity of real- 
ity was reached by the Hindu. The application of this 
thought by successive races in succeeding times has 
wrought out in ever widening significance the thought 
of the brotherhood of man. This truth with its parent 
truth are summed up and emphasized by Christianity 
in concrete and living expression. The movement has 
been from abstract thought, through wider and wider 
application to life, to concrete and embodied being. 

Christ was the universal individual man. In him 
are focused the lives of truth and goodness. He is 
at once the strongest individuality of history, the truest 
servant of humanity, the most perfect fruitage of hu- 
man life. Xo other ones have been the actor as well 



168 FRANKUN PLATO ELLER 

as the author of the Golden Rule : Love thy neighbor 
as thyself. This is the simple couching of the grand- 
est and most profound philosophy ever uttered. 

Without law there could be no organization of soci- 
ety, and without freedom there could be no moral 
character. How, then, can the individual be free and 
yet under law? This great problem of the ages, with 
which heathen philosophy and pagan civilization grap- 
pled in vain, Christ solved with one word — Love. 
This is the essence of Christianity. Opposed to sel- 
fishness it is its divine antidote. It transforms the 
whirlpool of evil into a fountain of good. Realizing 
the true solution of morality and religion it gives each 
its truest statement. The universal of religion is 
found to be God, for religion is the relation of man to 
God. The universal of morality is seen to be man, for 
morality is man to man. 

Thus in the higher union the ethical assumes the 
religious aspect and egoism and altruism are blended 
into harmony. In this deeper interpretation, the real- 
ity of the self is maintained in the truth of the immor- 
tality of the soul, and the altruistic aspect is asserted 
as the fundamental brotherhood of man. Thus man's 
life is made out to be immortal, and yet he is the eter- 
nal brother of all men, because of his inherent divinity, 
which manifests itself and works throughout mankind. 
Herein is manifest the sublimest thought of the world : 
the brotherhood of man and the fatherhood of God. 
Thus Christianity fits life. It seeks not to lay its basis 
on the lowly earth or suspend it from the vaulted sky, 
but it rests it upon the fundamental truths of human 
consciousness. 

It is this character of Christian ethics that makes it 
especially significant for us. We are in constant strug- 



JOHN CARLTON ELLER 169 

gle and intercourse with our fellows. Our life is an 
ethical whirlpool, a mighty maelstrom of moral rela- 
tionships. How can we best guide our life's bark 
through it? Our conclusion would plainly press the 
need of the sustaining surety of religion — the vitality 
of spiritual fullness. Our civilization, taking its 
color from the philosophy of individualism, already 
exalts the abnormal importance of self. It is in sad 
subjection to the dictation of selfish materialism. The 
standard of egoism, taken alone, is unnatural and not 
truly human. Under the color of liberty it nurtures 
the tyranny of self. Competition by itself is the cure 
that kills. It is the precept of Ishmael and arrays 
every man's hand against every other. It is the creed 
of Cain, for man cannot live on the single principle of 
the struggle for life. The softening influence of an 
altruistic spirit needs to be breathed into our civiliza- 
tion, to make it expand and glow with health. The 
angles of our selfishness need to be pared away and 
competition should be wedded to co-operation. 

While our century is doubtless the best of all time, 
its very completeness reveals its imperfection. It 
demonstrates the truth expressed by Browning : "Man 
was made to grow, not stop." 

As Christianity is the truest philosophy, the richest re- 
ligion, and the best life, so for our needs it must bring 
the surest alleviation. With healing on its wings its 
spirit should meet and mingle with the spirit of the 
age. "We must not say love and law, but love in 
law." (Everitt: "Relation of Jesus to the Present 
Age" in "Christianity and Modern Thought," p. 145). 

The tendency is happily altruistic. The century is 
strewn with many holy traces of Christian service, 
despite the long record of "Man's inhumanity to man." 



170 FRANKLIN PLATO ELLER 

The abolition of slavery, the growth of free govern- 
ment, the impulse for missions, the benevolence of 
philanthropy — these and much more are the promise 
and the happy prophecy of human hope and progress. 

But there still remains the troublous strife of labor 
and capital, the sectional and caste prejudice, that are 
the tokens of narrowness. We have drifted into the 
peril of conducting life by a theory of rights, regardless 
of a confession of duties; in losing life in the search 
for the means of living. Our standards must become 
broader, more tolerant, more universal, and that means 
the realization of the moral constitution of man. 

And so, in brief, we have found out that morality is 
the relation of man to man. The moral sense is the 
consciousness of the mutual relation of self and other- 
self. This consciousness is born out of physical want. 
Its growth depends on its content, and its content 
depends both on the inherent potentiality and the 
influence of the external environments. The content 
at first physical, becomes moral by the intuition of 
reason. The moral sense is universal because it is a 
human attribute. Morality is life, and hence is the 
struggle of the individual to become the universal. 
Being a struggle, it is dualistio. Egoism and altruism 
are its two aspects — the one standing for self-assertion, 
the other for self-sacrifice. Each aspect is true and 
legitimate, but needs the other for completion. Mor- 
ality is a struggle, because it is incomplete. It issues 
necessarily into religion, for religion is its underlying 
support. It is the expression of religion. Christianity 
is the deepest interpretation of these truths. It is the 
flowering of human life. And it is the spirit of Chris- 
tianity that our ethical age most needs. The individu- 



JOHN CARLTON ELLER 171 

alistic trend needs to be checked by the spirit of human 
brotherhood. In short, the moral sense needs at all 
times to be fortified by the strength of true religion. 



A PLEA FOR AMERICAN COMMERCE 

The expansion of a nation's commerce is the sub- 
stantial surety of its strength. There is no truth in 
the life of nations more fundamental than this, for the 
sea is the world's great medium of circulation, and 
commerce is alike the harbinger of civilization and 
the carrier of Christianity. 

Nations, like individuals, have epochs in their his- 
tory in which some prevailing influence molds and 
dominates the character of its people and its time. The 
American nation has passed through its purely reli- 
gious and political stages. The age of material activity 
— 'the age of commerce, has come, ushered in by the 
force of tireless energy and the audacity of inventive 
genius. 

In the pathway of nations, America stands situated 
within the Temperate Zone and fortified by a vast con- 
tiguous territory. Endowed by the unequaled re- 
sources of a wonderful land, and guided by the intense 
energy and genius of the American race, this nation is 
presented with the auspicious opportunity of indus- 
trial and material ascendency. 

Even as a stripling nation we startled the world by 
our glorious exploits at sea ; but with the lapse of years 
the ships that once carried our flag in triumph upon 
every sea were swept from mart and main. And thus 
our energies became absorbed in the development of a 
vast system of domestic industry. 



172 FRANKLIN PLATO ELLER 

In pursuance of this policy we have overspread the 
continent and come to the "sea-mark of our utmost 
soil." In our infancy we bordered upon the Atlantic 
only; youth carried our boundary to the Gulf; today 
maturity sees us upon the Pacific. A magnificent sys- 
tem of river, lake, and gulf has been strengthened by 
an artificial network of railway, canal, and harbor. 
In every quarter beautiful cities grace our land — rare 
trophies in the lap of Columbian conquest. 

As the inevitable consequence of national growth 
and territorial extension, it is manifestly important to 
look forth beyond the sea-horizon to those dangers 
that hedge us in, and to those interests fraught with 
vital import. 

To place American commerce upon a footing of 
assured and permanent supremacy, three great achieve- 
ments must be accomplished — the construction of the 
great inter-oceanic canal at Nicaragua, the secure con- 
trol of the Hawaiian Islands, and the adoption of a 
foreign policy tending towards free trade. 

For years it has been recognized that the severance 
of the American isthmus would be a masterstroke for 
international commerce and of countless value to the 
controlling country, and yet the passive policy of 
America has staved it off until the prize lies ready to 
pass into the hands of an alien power. The demands 
of our three great seaboards, each for itself and all for 
the strength that comes from unity, call for its comple- 
tion under the auspices and control of the American 
people. Such a measure, requiring a cost less than is 
usually paid to pensioners, would soon render this 
country the workshop and clearing house of the world. 
Since the Isthmian canal may and must become the 
Gibraltar of the United States, affecting most vitally 



JOHN CARLTON ELLER 173 

every interest of our common land, it should be dis- 
tinctly an American enterprise. It must be the first 
practical and substantial assertion of the boasted doc- 
trine of Monroe, hitherto a mere dogma in American 
policy, at once knitting more and more closely the 
Union with our sister republics and establishing the 
rights and duties of the Americas. 

Intimately associated in importance with the canal is 
the control of the Hawaiian Islands. Confronting the 
gigantic sweep and stress of commercial and political 
currents that are gathered around Hawaii is the strate- 
gic point that means military and commercial control 
of the Pacific. When our great western domain shall 
be developed and when the Pacific shall become the 
highway of the trade and travel of the earth, the "Par- 
adise of the Pacific," unique in the possession of soli- 
tary significance and guarding, like a lone sentinel, the 
converging lines of a world-wide trade, will excite the 
envy and admiration of nations as the single key that 
unlocks the Golden Gate — the entrance to the treasure 
of the ages. 

The perfection of our commercial success cannot be 
fully attained until the shackles of the tariff are 
stricken from the limbs of industry and confidence in 
the freedom of interchange shall flow throughout the 
veins of trade. The Chinese wall of exclusive protec- 
tion stands as the fossilized remains of war; the swad- 
dling clothes of infancy about the loins of man; a cal- 
lous galling excrescence on the policy of free America. 
If we have prospered, it is because of the indomitable 
energy of American genius working amid an exhaust- 
less treasure of resources ; it is because the sovereign 
States of this Union have enjoyed that freedom of 
trade denied the outside world. 



174 FRANKLIN PLATO ELLER 

There are certain natural tendencies embedded in the 
constitution of humanity which are as inviolable as 
the most sacred relation of God and man. As long as 
human want remains universal, so long will it be to 
the interest of mankind to buy in the cheapest and sell 
in the dearest market ; the prices of products will ever 
be regulated by supply and demand ; and the more 
freedom is given to trade, the more splendid will be its 
attendant results. Where amongst protective nations 
is the parallel of England, the only champion of the 
seas? Faithful to the principles of freedom, she has 
circled the globe with the swelling tide of her power 
and civilization. Recognizing the justice of natural, 
economic law, she has become queen of commerce, 
mistress of the seas, and creditor-in-chief of the human 
race. Had Trafalgar or Blenheim never been fought, 
her policy of free trade would have wrought for her, 
by the pure and shining agencies of peace, the fair 
fabric of her wondrous dominion. 

The law of development demands that we should 
trade freely with every land. The production of our 
rich and ample plains has already outstripped its con- 
sumption. However diversified our industries, we are 
largely dependent upon the exchange of our surplus 
for that of other lands. 

Fortunate for America and world interests at large 
would be the results attendant upon the union of the 
English race in establishing the freedom of trade, as 
they have accomplished the freedom of man. By such 
a policy the inferior states of earth would sooner or 
later be forced to adopt a like course and the leavening 
intercourse of free exchange, carrying in its train the 
enlightenment and liberty of the Anglo-Saxon, would 



JOHN CARLTON ELLER 175 

give an impetus to world-comity and international 
peace greater than the centuries have yet brought forth. 

It is evident, therefore, that American commerce 
has come to an imminent crisis. There is a call for a 
change of our passive policy into one of action, seizing 
the fetlock of time, accepting the gracious advantages 
of opportunity and opening wide every outlet to the 
commercial activity of our people. 

Without this, European interests will seize the 
points of greatest future importance to our safety and 
commercial career. Without this, our surplus will 
soon roll back from the coast upon the interior, and 
the wheels of prosperity will be clogged by the richness 
of the burden they bear. Not a change of administra- 
tion, not the coinage of silver, not the repudiation of 
national obligations, but a market for our products, 
labor for the idle, bread for the hungry — these are the 
demands of a suffering people that struggle for utter- 
ance through Coxey's Commonweal and a thousand 
other mutterings that announce the coming of the 
storm. 

Our own beloved Vance, battling against foes hid- 
den and foes declared, sprung from the loins of a 
sturdy race, and feeling the aspirations of his people 
pulsating through his own true heart, for these years 
has expressed their wishes for the emancipation of 
labor and the extension of American trade. 

On the one hand are seen the ruinous results of pro- 
crastination, on the other the splendid reward of com- 
mercial expansion. It is a question demanding an im- 
mediate answer, a crisis foreshadowing with remark- 
able clearness the sequence of either course. "Least 
of all nations can America prepare a table for chance 
or furnish a drink offering for destiny." 



176 FRANKLIN PLATO ELLER 

The Doge of Venice, dwelling in palaces and cele- 
brating every year with gala-day and wedding ring his 
nuptials with the sea, a beautiful bride, who has 
brought him a dower of exhaustless wealth, is a beauti- 
ful symbol of a great material truth. Rightly consid- 
ered, it is nothing wonderful that the Ancients with 
shout and revel worshiped Neptune, whose trident shook 
the sea. With less superstition and more appreciation 
let us learn the lessons they teach and make the ele- 
ments, which they worshiped, the servants of our will. 
Give us back the sea, that "vast expanse which sepa- 
rates the jurisdiction of nations, the grand reservation 
of God on our planet, wherein no thieving laws of 
human cunning can hide, but which acknowledges only 
those laws that regulate the surging of its billows and 
the solitude of its awful depths." It is our heritage, 
sanctified by the blood and fortified by the heroism of 
our fathers ; it is ours by the divine direction of des- 
tiny, "ours and our children's forever." 

Then let us strive with unwavering loyalty for the 
true production of American industry and the unselfish 
guardianship of American commerce. The changeless 
law of cause and effect applies to the realm of human 
action as well as to the sphere of physical force. The 
mercantile spirit, bearing the olive branch of peace, as 
it pervades every clime, is the iconoclast who builds 
upon the overthrown creeds of barbarism the beauteous 
temple of art and civilization. 

Industry with the restless rhythm of its tireless spin- 
dles, brings with a bounteous benevolence an opulent 
offering to the relief of human want. Commerce 
flecks the seas with its white-winged carrier-doves of 
liberty and law, and sends its messengers of peace by 
every line. They are the essential elements of national 



JOHN CARLTON ELLER 177 

weal and the evangels that announce the doom of war- 
ring wretchedness and the enthronement of a people's 
hopes. 



INTER-SOCIETY DEBATE-PARTY 
ORGANIZATION 

FIRST SPEECH. 

The American government claims to rest on the suf- 
frage of freemen. The citizens of this Republic, exer- 
cising their right of suffrage, have evolved our 
National political parties, as the means to the end of 
government. This, we grant, is right, for it is natu- 
ral. The fundamental differences of human nature 
are legitimate excuses for the divisions of men, but the 
necessary existence of parties does not prove that there 
is inherent virtue in all the developments that party 
organization may assume. 

Since suffrage is the source of popular government, 
the nature of the government will naturally be accord- 
ing to that of the suffrage. Whatever, therefore, tends 
to lower the standard of the suffrage, or to thwart its 
true expression, cannot be for the nation's good, as it 
must express itself in corrupt and vicious government. 

Let us see, then, what the rigidly organized party is 
and whether it tends to the good of our suffrage, our 
government, and our people. 

Edmund Burke, the great English statesman and 
thinker, defines political party as "an association of 
men united for the purpose of promoting by their joint 
efforts the public welfare upon principles about which 
they agree." "Rigidly organized" is defined as "inflex- 
ibly constructed." A rigid organization is a structure 
formed with exactness and without allowance. In 
12 



178 FRANKLIN PLATO ELLER 

short, it is a mechanism, a machine. Its rigidity ren- 
ders it practically lifeless, save as it is manipulated by 
a skilled professional. It is a fossilized form', an ossi- 
fied organism, whose rigidity of structure forbids pro- 
gressive change, growth, or development within itself. 

The particular principle, of which Burke speaks, as 
giving rise to party, will in time be settled. What is 
there, then, to render the bond of organization rational 
or moral? The connection can only be held, more or 
less, by the common desire of the pelf and power of 
politics. Born of the love of power, party becomes 
an end in itself, uses its acquired strength to make its 
organization more rigid, in short, it becomes a machine 
maintained either by mere personal association or by 
motives and influences more or less corrupt. When 
once in power, parties will at times sacrifice the very 
principles that caused their triumph, betray the watch- 
word of their existence, and descend to a base conten- 
tion over the honors and emoluments of office. Un- 
less some great question exists to justify its living, 
party can be naught but a fine name for faction, whose 
ties are passion and corruption and whose results are 
ever the wreck and ruin of commonwealths. Like 
Guelph and Ghibelline, the devouring wolves of Italian 
liberty, the fossilized forms of intrenched parties fight 
for self-existence at the peril of the country's life. 

One hundred years of hard practical experience 
have served to work out and establish for us certain 
political facts, clearly indicative of the evils of party 
spirit and rigid partisanship. We are just beginning 
to witness the worst results of that unbridled party 
spirit, which Washington anticipated with fear and 
DeTocqueville shrewdly guessed. 

As party organization becomes more rigid and com- 



JOHN CARLTON ELLER 179 

plex, the more skill and service are requisite for its 
guidance. To secure this skilfull service, money and 
office must needs be offered as substantial rewards, and 
thus the professional politician is evolved, whose duty 
is constant party loyalty and whose business is con- 
stant partisan work. He need not be cultivated or 
experienced in the great questions on which politics 
and legislation are based, but he must be adapted to 
party service and his soul be animated by partisan zeal. 
He holds his position by the pledge of party loyalty 
and the promise of party service. Thus from post- 
master to president we are ruled by an organized body 
of officeseekers, the political janizaries of a free repub- 
lic. Andrew Jackson builded worse than he knew 
when he instituted the riotous spoils system and fet- 
tered our government with a feudalism, founded on 
political reward for party service. It is the system 
that delights the demagogue, who, "high above consid- 
erations of state and people lifts the pirate flag of sel- 
fishness and rallies to his standard the worst and 
weakest of his race." He is the antithesis of patriot- 
ism, the incarnation of selfishness, the unholy target 
of civic scorn, a publicist without a principle, a citizen 
without an anchor in the truth. 

The multiplicity and frequency of contests render 
public life too absorbing for the most worthy and com- 
petent citizens, who have private occupations to pur- 
sue. By the force of necessity they must either desert 
politics and follow their individual professions, or 
change them to that of the politician. Skilled profes- 
sionals bar our best men from political life, and con- 
scious honor quails before partisan intrigue, like Chris- 
tian before the Slough of Despond, until men of integ- 
rity turn in disgust away to the purer pursuits of hon- 



180 FRANKLIN PLATO ELLER 

est men. Is this a condition for congratulation? 
Politics ought to mean the honorable contention of 
patriotic citizens, but how often we hear the exclama- 
tion, "Politics is rotten" — a statement too sadly true. 
It is a struggle for existence, in which the conditions 
of environment cause the survival of the most perfect 
demagogue. 

Thus partisan rule removes from out the people's 
hands the power which is their rightful heritage. The 
removal of the best men from politics and the aban- 
donment of government to the politician tend to center 
all substantial power in evil hands and unclothe the 
citizen of his boasted sovereignty. The politician be- 
gins with the primary, and his skillful manipulation 
extends to the federal Congress. Election becomes 
merged in nomination, except in rare instances of ex- 
citement, and nomination is nearly always the work 
of the politician. "The first thing," said Alexander 
Hamilton, "in all great operations of such a govern- 
ment as ours, is to secure the opinion of the people." 
Under machine rule, in reality, however, at least nine- 
tenths of our citizens are under the subjugation of the 
remaining tenth. Removed as the great mass of voters 
are from close political life, the real power resides 
with a small faction of our citizens, and for its pos- 
session the machine is worked to its utmost capacity. 
We have a government by parties, democratic in form, 
though actually savoring of some of the worst features 
of oligarchy. 

Rigid organizations prevent freedom of thought and 
expression by the individual and by the people. Rigid- 
ity ever cramps thought and expression ; it is the open 
opponent of progress, and progress means independ- 
ence. The military discipline of party life, intolerant 



JOHN CARLTON ELLER 181 

of independent action, checks the expression of honest 
disapproval and lashes unwillingness into servile acqui- 
escence. What the Roman client was to his patron, 
what the mediaeval vassal was to his lord, that the mod- 
ern American politician is to his boss, who sits like a 
spider within his web and weaves the snare for liberty. 
The election of President by electors has come to be a 
farce. Men consult their prejudices more than their 
reasons and leave their political thinking to the poli- 
tician, whose conclusions are usually formed on the 
selfish consideration of party. The political machine 
is a magnificent mechanism whose precision and ease 
would delight the soul of Archimedes. But its rigidity 
of structure alike stifles discussion, fosters intrigue, 
depresses talent, elevates mediocrity, and crushes all 
spontaneity out of civic life. It reduces the vigorous, 
healthy, buoyant action of freemen to the base preci- 
sion of mathematical factors. The defense of supreme 
and continuous party allegiance rests only on the as- 
sumption of the all-sufficiency of a chosen party for 
the performance of civic duties — a principle that 
forced the despotism of the Church hierarchy in the 
domain of religion. We have apparently transferred 
the superstition of divine right from the English king 
to the American party, and the fallacy is just as decep- 
tive to us as to the subjects of James Stuart. This 
surrender of individuality dismantles the human judg- 
ment of its regal crown of authority and declares en- 
franchised citizens to be as political cattle in the sham- 
bles of partisan contention. It narrows the mind and 
ossifies the conscience, it places the partisan above the 
patriot, the voter above the man — a pungent paradox 
in this boasted democracy of free institutions. 

Machine politics prevent the efficient administration 



182 FRANKLIN PLATO ELLER 

of public affairs. When the rigid demands of party 
press partisan service for official station, the public 
service will be conducted with partisan instead of with 
patriotic motives. Men then minimize the public good 
in sacrifice to party advantage, neglect the interests of 
country, and insincerity readily ripens into cynicism. 
Congressmen are forced to waste their time to secure 
party appointments, and thus ignore the pressing 
duties of statecraft. President Garfield is authority 
for the fact that one-third of a Congressman's work- 
ing time is scarcely sufficient to meet the demands of 
party. Such partisan prostitution of the public ser- 
vice, as is seen in the spoils system, is radical treachery 
to popular government, because it makes private inter- 
est and not the public welfare the motive of filial ac- 
tion. The crying evils of administration are directly 
traceable to the rigidity of party, whose wanton ex- 
cuses exhort the people's honesty to cleanse these 
Augean stables of the civil service and give to spoils- 
men the warning of their death warrant. 

As parties become more complex and mechanical, 
they cease to be actuated by great living principles and 
policies. The party platform is a skillfully framed 
figurehead, advanced to catch voters, a miserable ruse 
for the unthinking, a bald excuse for existence. Its 
planks are often too rotten to bear the weight of hon- 
est men. Availability of man or measure almost inva- 
riably is the determining factor in party selection, in 
the face of the demands of duty. For twenty-five 
years New York and the other pivotal States have 
been placated by candidates, while the South has not 
had a President since Andrew Johnson, because of the 
sectionalism bred of party. The quadrennial mani- 
festoes of party conventions have come to consist of 



JOHN CARLTON ELLER 183 

platitudes on dead or dying issues, while the great 
questions of immigration, labor, and finance are a 
history of vacillation between national welfare and 
some local or personal interest that party courts or 
fears. Party tactics obstruct attempted legislation, 
and the people pay for deadlocks and filibuster. Today 
the country demands a definite action on the financial 
question, but party spirit prevents a free deliberation 
and an honest agreement. One party expends enough 
government money on army pensions to create a mag- 
nificent navy, so intense has party spirit become to the 
oblivion of the country's needs. Such rigid selfishness 
has never wrought great reform. The slave was freed 
by the independent action of party formation, and 
Bright and Cobden repealed England's corn laws in 
defiance of existing parties. Our two great parties are 
mere political armies fighting with ballots instead of 
bullets. They are the Praetorian guards of America, 
who have outlived their wonted mission and now fight 
in furious faction for the despotic tyrrany of the 
nation. If such conditions can promote the people's 
welfare, then surely liberty is a refugee from home 
and freedom a stranger within our gates. 

This system of partisan rigidity corrupts official ac- 
tion and pollutes the whole realm of politics. When- 
ever the demands of personal and party interest be- 
come stronger than duty to country, as we hold it does 
in machine government, public office is no longer con- 
sidered as a public trust, but rather as a political advan- 
tage for partisan purposes. Thus great monopolies 
and trusts have arisen, fostered as they are*by partisan 
legislation in reward for liberal campaign funds and 
bountiful favors to the machine ring. The cohesive 



184 FRANKLIN PLATO ELLER 

force and power of the machine become the desire for 
office and office as a means of gain. 

The Boss of the ring holds his tenure simply as a 
bestower of riches, but little better than a leader of a 
band of condattieri of the 15th century. Log-rolling 
in Congress is a commonplace, and party leaders "smile 
at election pledges as the gods smile at lovers' vows." 

Scandals become shamefully prevalent in our great 
cities where the public till is exhausted by robbery, and 
accounts are systematically cooked to conceal the thefts. 
Every election sees the expenditure of vast sums of 
money, often from the people's treasury, spent like 
Dudley's "blocks of five," in all pivotal States, where 
money turns the scale. Even our judiciary is contami- 
nated by this deadly partisanship and the Dred Scott 
Decision, the Legal Tender Cases, and the Electoral 
Commission of '77 attest its wanton results. Since 
'65 party affiliation has been the prime requisite for 
judicial appointment and consequently states, commu- 
nities, and individuals have been terrorized to carry 
elections and decrees of disbandment issued to Legisla- 
tures and Army and Navy summoned to organize 
others. One hundred years ago the English king 
bought votes in Parliament ; today the American parti- 
san buys votes at the polls. Americans are becoming 
proverbial gamblers and political prostitution is the 
common crime of parties, the common disgrace of the 
national name, the common danger to American insti- 
tutions and the common reproach to American citizen- 
ship. Thus a partisan government puts a price upon 
public spirit, degrades and demoralizes the national 
character and invites the people to measure all action 
by the venal value of money. 

Tammany Hall is the mirror in which we see the 



JOHN CARLTON ELLER 185 

clearest reflection of the riotous results of machine 
politics. It is the American Jacobin Club, and the 
incarnation of more evil than we have yet suggested. 
Organization and not Education, Success and not Im- 
provement, victorious war and not glorious peace — 
these are the supreme aims of Tammany. With it 
office is a commodity and not a trust. Its leaders have 
ever been the most consummate rascals, whose infa- 
mies have filled two continents with the disgrace of the 
Republic. It has never produced a statesman, a pa- 
triot, or a public benefactor. It boasts of no law, pub- 
lic measure, or policy that history can record with 
pride. For a generation its sphere has been one of 
moral and intellectual barrenness. Like its nominal 
aborigines, it dons the paint of battle with the savage 
hope of reaping scalps and the mercenary motive of 
gathering booty. It corrupts a whole municipality; it 
poisons the politics of our leading State. Last fall's 
defeat meant only the ascendancy of Piatt's machine, 
and both would rather vie in civic corruption and 
vicious methods than in patriotic honesty and manly 
rivalry. Not only New York, but most of our great 
cities are the pitiable victims of machine rule. The 
American city is rapidly growing into dominance, and 
the character of its government means largely that of 
our national administration. Righteous indignation 
rises at the sight of these dens of desperation, hatch- 
ing gruesome plots, wherein illicit graft, a worse than 
Punic faith and infidelity to the most sacred trusts in 
the most exalted stations, fill the whole government 
with the pollution of their guilty presence. These are 
the conditions that accompany the unyielding tenure 
of party power. The time is ready for the rising of 
some political Christ, endowed with the inherent Di- 



186 FRANKLIN PLATO ELLER 

vinity of might and manhood to thrust from the tem- 
ples of government these barterers in citizenship and 
defamers of popular freedom. 

SECOND SPEECH. 

The need of party existence and even of organiza- 
tion have been conceded. But we do declare the evil 
of rigidly organized parties. The question is one of 
degree ; it is whether progress, growth, and expansion 
through reform, are conducive to the popular welfare. 
It is a question of progression or retrogression, of evo- 
lution or devolution, we might almost add, of life or 
death. 

It is not so much organized conflict that formulates 
the truth ; it is the tolerance of concession, the synthe- 
sis of sincere conference, and a conflict, if there must 
be one, of thought independent and progressive. Not 
the passionate conflict of individuals in a struggle for 
place, but a co-operative competition in the value of 
ideas : this is the test and crucible of truth. Thus we 
may trace the thread of progress throughout the fabric 
of history; it begins without the woven forms of insti- 
tutions and gathers to itself the vesture of command- 
ing power. It begins in the insignificant and martyred 
minority; it finds durable expression by persuading 
the majority. Thus it is a growth, an adaptation of 
existing conditions to expanding thought, and nothing 
is so revolutionary, because so unnatural as to attempt 
the preservation of institutions unchanged, while "all 
the world by the very law of its creation is in eternal 
progress." Do you think machine politics would have 
produced the American Constitution, repealed Eng- 
land's corn laws, or will give Ireland Home Rule? 
The element of concession, or rational thought, and 



JOHN CARLTOX ELLER 187 

independent action, must ever soften the asperities of 
manly conflict and grant to all the tolerance of unfet- 
tered opinion. 

But on the contrary we see the selfish demands of 
partisanship dominated by party spirit, that "frenzy 
which imbrutes the soul ;" we see it struggling for self, 
regardless of national stability or the survival of the 
Republic. 

If this condition continues, there is a coming crisis, 
when some vital question will madden the minority to 
resist submission. Should that minority be almost as 
strong as the majority, with kinsman ranged versus 
kinsman and neighbor versus neighbor, a civil war 
more horrible than we have yet known, may rend the 
nation in fragments. The republics of South America 
are suggestive object lessons, and three decades have 
hardly healed the disasters of our Civil War. In 76 
we barely escaped the crisis of war, whose cause was a 
maddened partisanship, and whose repetition would 
enshroud the nation with flames of embittered pas- 
sion and the smoke of intensified terror. 

Hear the ominous words of Daniel Webster in the 
Declaration of Whig principles in 1840: "Party Spirit, 
when it gains such an ascendancy in men's minds as 
leads them to substitute party for country, to seek no 
ends but party ends, no approbation but party approba- 
tion, and to fear no reproach or contumely, so that 
there be no party dissatisfaction, not only alloys the 
true enjoyment of our institutions, but weakens every 
day the foundations on which they stand." 

The problem of party remains to be fully solved. 
The delicate balance must be worked out whereby the 
vote can be concentrated and yet the independence of 
the voter preserved. David Dudley Field said "it is 



188 FRANKLIN PLATO ELLER 

solved only when we have a fair representation of vot- 
ers in the selection of candidates, followed by a fair 
election from among the selected/' I submit to you 
the question, if any of these conditions are appreciably 
effected under the rigid rule of parties. 

The utility of the true conception of party appears 
to depend on certain conditions: 1. The tendency of 
its principles to advance the welfare of the whole peo- 
ple. 2. The faithful support of these principles by 
the party itself. 3. The nomination of the most wor- 
thy for office. These conditions, we claim, are partly 
or wholly violated by the rigidly organized party, and 
the result shows the degradation of national character 
and the disgrace of popular suffrage. To sustain our 
position we have advanced the following points : 

1. Rigidly organized partisan party creates a privi- 
leged class — the politician. 

2. Tears the best men from political life. 

3. Removes power from the people. 

4. Destroys individual and popular freedom of 
thought and expression. 

5. Destroys official responsibility and efficient ad- 
ministration. 

6. Is actuated by personal and selfish aims, and 
not by great principles. 

7. Tends to corrupt our whole political life. 

The affirmative have failed to disprove these facts. 
They evade us by demanding a substitute for a system 
we would condemn. It is not our province tonight to 
devise public policies. We are discussing the point of 
good or evil in machine politics, and we claim that our 
position stands unshaken. 

We would have you consider that, under the condi- 
tions bred by rigid party, instead of remaining a means 



JOHN CARLTON ELLER 189 

to good government the party becomes an end in itself, 
an impcrium in imperio. Principles become lost in 
parties, peanut politics retires statesmanship, and the 
servile worshiper and obedient follower are wrought 
into enthusiasm by the cognomens of party parapher- 
nalia. The significance of the symbol is lost in the 
passion of the hour. Spirit yields to dominant form 
and the partisan, in political fanaticism, pays even 
more devoted homage to his idols, than the Catholic 
before the cross or the African before his fetich. 

Party, with all its rigidity and complexity, deadens 
the nobility of the citizen and makes him a mechanical 
servant. Its spirit becomes a deadly narcotic. Its 
effect a vicious and fatal malady. 

It needs not the violation of a letter of our Constitu- 
tion for the strong hand of some American Augustus 
to concentrate through party power the people's gov- 
ernment into a grinding monarchy. The redeeming 
hope, if there is one, lies in the genius of our race, in 
the public spirit of the citizen. Public as well as pri- 
vate morals must be recognized as forces in national 
life, and the Decalogue and Golden Rule be potential 
factors in politics, Jno. J. Ingalls, notwithstanding. 

The hope of the nation is in the party of principles, 
the one that looks to the dawn (Incomplete). 



DANGERS OF CENTRALIZATION 

FIRST SPEECH. 

The American Union, resting upon its Constitution 
as the pledge and instrument of unity, is distinctively 
a federal republic, a republic of republics. The whole 
history of our national evolution, through colony fed- 



190 FRANKLIN PLATO ELLER 

eration and constitution, is but a gradual unfolding of 
this basal idea, of this vital principle of federalism. 
The confederation signifying on its face the fact of 
federation, began with the declaration that : 

"Each State retains its sovereignty, freedom, and 
independence, and every power, jurisdiction and right 
which is not by this confederation expressly delegated 
to the U. S. in Congress assembled." 

The Constitution, builded on the confederation, pro- 
vided not that all legislative powers, but that "all legis- 
lative powers herein granted" should be vested in Con- 
gress. These powers are carefully enumerated under 
17 distinct heads, and the election of President and 
Senators is fixed on the basis of the sovereign States. 
Furthermore, the first Congress more clearly defined 
the National powers in ten amendments, the last of 
which dclares that : 

"The powers not delegated to the U. S. by the Con- 
stitution, nor prohibited to it by the States, are re- 
served to the States respectively, or to the people." 

Thus the highest authority declares that the Consti- 
tution is federative in the power which framed it, 
adopted, and ratified it, and which sustains and 
strengthens it. It cannot be amended save by a feder- 
ative power, and the entire structure is one of check 
and balance. 

The vital and underlying principle of our federal 
government is the continued equipoise of the State and 
National power. Its structure rests on the steadfast 
pillars of the States. It effects free government by 
concurrent majorities, by restraints upon aggregated 
popular will. It is not a party to, but the result of the 
Constitution, and cannot in its original conception, 
exist apart from the Constitution, or the States, its 



JOHX CARLTON ELLER 191 

creator. The Union is supreme in its delegated pow- 
ers; beyond that the States are sovereign and inde- 
pendent. 

(Reading from Marshall, Chase, Alexander Hamil- 
ton, and Bancroft.) 

The high authority and strong testimony of these 
great men, the closest students of our government, 
show conclusively that equipoise is the basal principle 
of the republic, that State and Nation are both supreme 
in their functions ; but that the central government 
cannot legally grow in power, for its functions are del- 
egated and defined. 

Since, therefore, ours is a federal republic, and its 
vital principle is balanced equipoise of State and Na- 
tion, the danger of centralization is self-evident. The 
reading of our query evidently means growth of cen- 
tralism and decay of State power. This means insta- 
bility of the essential equipoise, and if not the fall of 
the republic, its complete metamorphosis into a central 
despotism. 

The builders of the republic were the peers of any 
in history's roll of worthies. Rich in learning and 
experience, integrity and sagacity, they knew they 
were the grave custodians of a people's hopes. Know- 
ing their country's needs and temper, studied in the 
political science of all ages and countries, they acted 
under the gravest consciousness of mighty responsibil- 
ity ever given to mortal stewardship. They were 
right ; with courageous heroism and sage-like wisdom, 
they wrought out the truest government yet given to 
mankind. In theory it is perfect — in practice smooth 
and efficient, save when at times the pendulum has 
swung too far stateward or to the center. It incar- 
nates the two great aims of government — unity and 



192 FRANKLIN PLATO ELLER 

freedom. The Union means unity; the States, free- 
dom. ' Equal in importance, they must be equal in 
power, else the ship of state will veer into the channels 
that lead upon the reefs of ruin. (Incomplete). 

SECOND SPEECH. 

This is a federal republic. Its maintenance reduced 
to its finality depends upon the affections and will of 
the people. If they have good local government, 
which history proves is only given to free people by 
local self government, then it follows that the highest 
government based on the local powers will be good and 
enduring. Government embracing all the relations of 
home, the dearest possessions of human life, all that 
intimately affects the citizen, the preservation of local 
self government, means the preservation of the liberty 
of the republic. Hence, it is entirely necessary for 
the preservation of the essential equipoise of federalism 
to preserve local freedom and good National adminis- 
tration. "Our Government," said Henry Clay, "is not 
to be maintained or our Union preserved by invasions 
of the rights and powers of the several States." But 
central supremacy can mean nothing, if it does not 
mean the absorption of local rights and powers. 

Equipoise is the prime essential of federalism. It 
is the keystone of the arch of unity. The centripetal 
must be counterbalanced by the centrifugal force, or 
the federal sphere will sweep from its orderly orbit 
into the consuming fire of the central sun. 

Centralism opposes the fullest development of a vast 
country. Free play and spontaneous expansion are 
the only incentives to popular self-reliance, they are 
the true requisites of progress. Central Government 
means strong government — it means repression. This 



JOHN CARLTON ELLER 193 

vast republic, with its diverse interests and local needs, 
will be better maintained by the popular diffusion of 
liberty and enlightenment, than by power congested at 
the center. The States should do nothing the people 
themselves can do — the nation nothing the States can 
do. The nearer the government is to the people, the 
better care will they have for it, the more will it ex- 
press their wishes and needs, and this can never be 
done by distant and external power. This State 
autonomy is essential to federalism. History teaches 
no plainer truth than that a consolidated government 
cannot be established on so wide a domain as ours, 
unless it be monarchical. Think of a federal repub- 
lic embracing a continent and governing seventy 
millions! Think of fifty great and opulent States 
governed by one National authority. Girt by two 
oceans, spanning the temperate zone, displaying re- 
sources Herculean in power and Protean in form, with 
all the diversities of industrial and social life, there 
moist inevitably be the widest divergence and 
variety of human interest. The stiff bonds of central- 
ism alone cannot bind them together. There must be 
that durability that comes from flexibility. National 
control of all our diverse interests means either chaos 
or despotism. Indulgence of powers and continued 
centralization is dangerous because it creates desire 
for more, and this desire of a partisan majority will 
lead to dangerous results. Unlimited central power 
means unlimited tyranny of a partisan majority that 
must ally itself with monopoly and wealth to perpetu- 
ate its sway. Consolidated capital is ever concurrent 
with political centralism and this allied danger is incal- 
culable. The centralist and capitalist go hand in hand. 
Compact and organized, one meets the other's neces- 

13 



194 FRANKLIN PLATO ELLER 

sity and thus they strip the many of their rights and 
aggrandize the few. 

Equipoise of government allows prompt dispatch for 
local rule, and more mature deliberation on the great 
questions of the nation. In short, the special needs of 
States find prompt attention, the general and common 
affairs of the Nation receive careful consideration. 
This is the true theory; but continued centralization 
means power without responsibility; it means that 
every Congressman stands or falls by his own constit- 
uents ; that ihe and his party may invade the local rights 
of the States ; that North Carolina must be sacrificed 
for New York's wishes — in short, it makes one sover- 
eign people rule over another sovereign people — a 
paradox fraught with a fatal truth. History's most 
important teaching is that responsibility can never, 
with safety, be separated from power, that there must 
be accountability to those affected by the use of the 
power. 

The affections and trust of the people — this is the 
enduring foundation of States, and centralism and re- 
pression will never gain it. The only legitimate and 
rightful objects of national control are those common 
to all States, to the whole American people. Without 
such a strict limitation of its powers no republican gov- 
ernment can be maintained over a vast and populous 
continent. It has never yet been done ; there is no 
reason to suppose that it will ever be done. Though 
we are becoming one people in space, yet the complex- 
ity of our civilization is so intricate that the common 
interests of States cannot appreciably be increasing. 

The Christian ideal of a world federation can never 
be reached save by a treaty binding the good faith of 
nations to abide by the advice of a central council upon 



JOHN CARLTON ELLER 195 

a few questions, without wounding national suscep- 
tibilities or trenching upon national autonomy. The 
principle of harmony and maintenance here is exactly 
identical with American federalism. 

Unchecked central force inevitably becomes despotic. 
It absorbs the local powers, it threatens local and indi- 
vidual liberty. Whenever all rule comes from Wash- 
ington, the wealthier sections will rule in their own 
interests and party despotism and sectional hate will 
end in misrule and deadly faction. The unity of the 
American people is a splendid thought and a great fact. 
But stronger and surer is the love of home and local 
freedom, and whenever national union and local free- 
dom clash, the latter is ever championed by manly 
freemen. There is a constant force necessary for our 
government. This force, according to the Constitu- 
tion and the dictates of wisdom, must be distributed 
among the people, equally divided between State and 
Nation. Hence, strong central power means sec- 
tional tyranny and less local freedom. A disruptive 
force is fostered, more dread and dangerous than ever 
comes to that government which trusts the citizens and 
magnifies the State. Beneath the splendor of central- 
ism is ever concealed the canker of unrest and oppres- 
sion. It was from the Golden Age of Augustus that 
the Roman Empire staggered to its fall. All roads led 
to Rome, but they were the veins that gathered the 
Empire's life-blood in deadly congestion. England 
has fought from centralized tyranny to the divine 
right of the people, and her complete vindication de- 
mands Home Rule for prostrate Ireland. Even versa- 
tile France was not elastic enough to bear the strain 
of central despotism, and the terrible recoil plunged 
her into the Reign of Terror. 



196 FRANKLIN PLATO ELLER 

Bryce, in "The American Commonwealth," impar- 
tially declares that: 

"When other things are equal, the more power is 
given to the units which compose the nation, be they 
large or small, and the less to the nation as a whole 
and to its central authority, so much the fuller will be 
the liberties and so much the greater the energy of the 
individuals who compose the people." 

This is a notable truth — and how can the republic 
live by that which destroys freedom, its foundation 
and support? 

Verily, we must magnify and defend local self gov- 
ernment. The rich blood must flow unchecked to the 
Nation's heart, sent from sound and healthy organs 
and not from diseased and withered extremities. Lo- 
cal self government, the lifeboat of liberty, insures 
safe government at home because it intrusts to every 
citizen the guardianship of local interests. The States 
are the Mecca of civic liberty, and in them are enshrined 
the Nation's hopes. They are the altars of freedom, 
and on the hearthstone of every citizen we must sanc- 
tify, if we would fortify, the republic. The diffusion 
of popular power is the only pledge and surety of 
national love and loyalty. 

The fullest local power is always better than the 
hars'h sway of external force. It is the methodical 
system of nature, whose economy metes out pain for 
error, whose laws bear their own inherent sanction. 
It is the sacred order of Divinity — the judgment of 
Jehovah, which makes human sin the deliverer of its 
own penalty. 

Recall the despotism of centralism in that saturnalia 
of tyranny and fraud, the post-bellum reconstruction 
of the South. Our population was decimated, our 



JOHN CARLTON ELLER 197 

hopes crushed, the country bankrupted, tyrannic tests 
of loyalty compelled, and the local rule of State en- 
trusted to the servile negro and the infamous carpet- 
bagger. 

Senator Edmunds, the venerable Republican of Ver- 
mont, writes : 

"The States are bulwarks of the liberties of the 
whole people, as the government of the whole people 
is the willing and bounden defender of the republican 
existence of each State and of the inherent freedom 
of its citizens." 

David Dudley Field, the great constitutional lawyer, 
says: 

"Our freedom and existence depend upon the pre- 
servation of the States in the plenitude of their power. 
Security for person and property is more important 
even than unity. This security must be given by the 
States." And again : 

"To be a State of the American Union is to be a 
sovereign in everything within its own borders, except 
when the sovereignty in a certain limited number of 
things has been granted to the common government of 
all the States." State rights is a precious possession. 
Shall the glory and teachings of our past State histo- 
ries be blotted out and forgotten ? No ! That people 
that is not conservative of its past, is unworthy of a 
glorious future. 

The maintenance of equipoise enables experiments 
in law and government that could not be safely tried 
in a large centralized government. Thus South Caro- 
lina's dispensary law benefits or hurts South Carolina 
alone. If successful, it stands an example for sister 
States; if dangerous, the penalty does not involve the 
nation. 



198 FRANKLIN PLATO ELLER 

THE ORIGIN AND RISE OF GOVERNMENT 

At the outset let us make a distinction between Gov- 
ernment and Society. Society is an organism — the 
organic life and unity of a people. Government is an 
organ — the expression, embodiment, and servant of 
society. Behind government rests its authority, the 
force of society. As language is to thought, so is gov- 
ernment to society, and as the underlying life of the 
one expands, so will the other develop in expression. 

Thus it must be evident that government had an ori- 
gin almost coeval with society. But the nature of the 
problem, with its scant and imperfect dates has led to 
various interpretations and theories. The most nota- 
ble of them are the Patriarchal Theory, the Theory 
of Social Gontract, the Theory of an Original Law- 
giver, and the Theory of Divine Right. 

Let us examine each of these. 

1. The Patriarchal Theory, founded originally on 
the scriptural history of the Hebrew patriarchs, bases 
Ancient Society on the family as the unit. Kinship 
is the earliest bond of unity and this idea is kept up by 
adoption, or incorporation of new blood by feigned 
relationship. The eldest male parent is supreme over 
his household. He has power of life or death over 
his children as well as his slaves. He holds his chil- 
dren's flocks and herds, though as a representative 
rather than a proprietor. Society is <the organized 
aggregate of families and not, as now, of individuals. 
Family is the unit, the earliest government, meeting 
the industrial, political and religious needs of man. 
The father is supreme king and priest. From this 
basal family, in time, comes the gens, ruled by the 
chiefest kinsmian. This becomes a tribe, whose chief 



JOHN CARLTON ELLER 199 

is yet, in theory at least, head kinsman. Finally, the 
union of tribes evolves the Ancient State, with its 
king, the father and priest of his people. 

The fact is proven by history that at a very early 
age the patriarchal family was the basis and shaping 
type of most governments. The village communities 
of Russia are believed to be survivals of this early 
social organization, based on kinship. Ancient Irish 
law points to a like character of archaic Celtic gov- 
ernment, and even clearer evidence, if history is to be 
credited, is found in early Greek and Roman govern- 
ment. 

There is a doubt, however, whether the family was 
the first form of any government. It is claimed with 
reason that the patriarchal was not the original family, 
but a derivative from less distinct preceding organiza- 
tion. However that may be, one thing seems clear, if 
we accept the theory of man's evolution. We cannot 
get back of the family to begin history with individ- 
uals, for the beasts, antecedent to man, had already 
reached the family stage. It is difficult to conceive a 
savage people with a consciousness sufficiently devel- 
oped to institute a government by an independent 
rational act. If the feeling of kinship would not bind 
men together, can we expect wild and unkempt sav- 
ages to organize? 

2. The Theory of Social Contract was developed by 
Hobbes, Hooker, Locke, and Rousseau in the last cen- 
tury. First of all they assume the existence of a Law 
of Nature, external to, and above, human law. Ac- 
cording to Hobbes, this law means, "in sum, 'doing to 
others as we would be done to.' " As an abstract 
standard, man was born into it, and his law must con- 
form to it. It was the product of Greek stoicism and 



200 FRANKLIN PLATO ELLER 

Roman jurisprudence, which conceived it to be neces- 
sary to square human thought with abstract standards 
of Universal Reason, inherent in nature. Though this 
law was binding on individual minds, yet lawless sel- 
fishness, the theory of claim's, prevented its exercise, 
and it failed to unite men in concerted action, in gov- 
erned society. Hooker says that the laws of Nature 
"do bind men absolutely, even as they are men, al- 
though they have never any settled fellowship, never 
any solemn agreement amongst themselves what to do 
or not to do ; but forasmuch as we are not by ourselves 
sufficient to furnish ourselves with competent store of 
things needful for such a life as our natures doth 
desire, a life fit for the dignity of man, therefore to 
supply these defects and imperfections, which are in 
us living single and solely by ourselves, we are natu- 
rally induced to seek communion and fellowship with 
others. This was the cause of men uniting themselves 
at first in political societies." (Ecclesiastical Polity, 
Bk 1, Sec. 10). Man was too unsocial to live with his 
fellows under this single law. There was a state of 
strife. To prevent extermination it was ended by 
common consent, by "agreeing together mutually to 
enter one common community and make one body poli- 
tic." (Locke). Locke further says: "Men being by 
nature all free, equal, and independent, no one can be 
put out of this estate and subjected to the political 
power of another without his own consent. The only 
way whereby any one divests himself of his natural 
liberty and puts on the bonds of civil society, is by 
agreeing with other men to join and unite into a com- 
munity." 

But Locke errs in assuming man to be "free, equal, 
and independent" by nature. Men are born into a pre- 



JOHN CARLTON ELLER 201 

existing society — into a status. They are reared in 
this status and nurture and training bind them to it 
with the strong thread of habit. Man is not free ; he is 
utterly dependent, whether he will or not. Every 
man's career was and is determined for him, more or 
less, before his birth. The contract theory interprets 
the savage mind as if it were a highly developed intel- 
lect. Its logic would have it that man has fallen, that 
a savage is better able to originate government than a 
civilized man. It is hard to conceive primitive man, 
as we know him, rising to the sublime and ethical 
height of conciliatory agreement. Is it not, even 
today, more natural for men to prefer kinship to coun- 
try? "Blood is thicker than water," and primitive 
man, of all men, was not an exception to the rule. 
Status must have been the basis of society. Entirely 
free and independent individuals are inconceivable. 
Every human is the child of parents ; he can't escape 
nature's law of kinship. He does not want to escape 
it. This is exactly why he formed no contract : his 
status was part of his life. He did not care to get out 
of it. It was only nature's ceaseless law of growth 
that impelled him forward, unconsciously, it may be, 
until he became self-conscious, until he had the power 
and desire to will such a compact. 

There was no place for compact in primitive thought, 
yet this theory makes social life begin with it. Con- 
tract could never have been supported but by a rever- 
ence for law, which is a comparatively modern prin- 
ciple of action. Primitive man knew no law. He was 
controlled by instinct, by feeling; and this feeling took 
the only natural course : directed social organization 
on the lines of kinship. If government originated by 
compact, why did this principle not continue to work, 



202 FRANKLIN PLATO ELLER 

giving us arbitration, federation and other ethical 
products? The millions of dead, Who perished for 
kith and country falsify such supposition, unless we 
believe man has steadily degenerated. "The duty re- 
sulting from one man's reliance on the word of another 
is one of the slowest conquests of civilization. There 
is nothing in early times like the interposition of law 
to compel the performance of a promise." (Theodore 
W. Dwight, in Introduction to Maine's Ancient Law, 
p. 57) . Just as well should a man of 50 explain child- 
life by his own mature habits. 

3. The Theory of Original Lawgiver. This has the 
tenor of ancient tradition, an effort made by the an- 
cients to explain the origin of their governments. 
They loved to picture a great antecedent hero, the 
moulder of the race and inventor of their laws. Thus 
the Jews had Moses; Athens, Solon; Sparta, Lycur- 
gus; Rome, Numa; and England, Alfred. While 
great men were doubtless powerful in shaping the 
course of instituted governments, yet history tells us 
of society and government back of these men. Imag- 
ine a savage of the mental power and experience neces- 
sary to even conceive of such laws as these men gave. 
Could such laws have been forced upon a very primi- 
tive society, much less accepted at the suggestion of 
one man ? Such a view would argue that government 
was made like a house. Common observation teaches 
that this is untrue ; it grew, it developed, like a tree — 
the expression of an inward life, the life of society. 
Human choice has evidently been a factor in govern- 
mental growth, but it will not do to attribute entire 
origin and development to it. 

4. The Theory of Divine Origin. This is closely akin 
to the theory just discussed, though more modern in 



JOHN CARLTON ELLER 203 

its application. It attributes the origin of human gov- 
ernment to the immediate power of God alone. It 
makes a direct command of God the cause and excuse 
for the existence of government. Adam was God's 
first appointed vice-gerent, whose authority is direct 
from heaven and is transmitted by primogeniture to 
his lineal descendants, namely, the monarchs of the 
earth. This is the old doctrine of the Roman philoso- 
phy, claiming to be based on the Bible, and finding its 
culmination in the Doctrine of Divine Right in the 
days of the English Stuarts. Really, however, the 
Bible disproves their claims. The Hebrews chose God 
for their ruler a thousand years before Pericles. A 
popular vote decided it and the choice was resubmitted 
every seven years after Moses' death. Isaac was not 
Abraham's eldest son ; nor was David Jesse's, nor Solo- 
mon David's. 

Sovereignty is not the possession of chosen demi- 
gods ; it resides with the people in their organic capacity 
as status, though often it lies hidden, usurped or 
abused until the wreck of revolution demonstrates its 
true abiding place. 

But the theory has a measure of truth. If we con- 
sider man's nature as divine, if God dwells in us, then 
our life is the action of the inward Divinity and gov- 
ernment is one of its manifestations. Man's sociabil- 
ity, his sense of order and law, may thus be regarded as 
inherently divine. Otherwise, we cannot conceive of 
the divine origin of government. 

Each of these theories undoubtedly contains a truth. 
Each has at times profoundly impressed mankind, and 
consequently must have contained a truth. 

Today the Patriarchal Theory is almost universally 
accepted as true, and it is this theory which I believe 



204 FRANKLIN PLATO ELLER 

explains the origin of human government, as I shall at- 
tempt to show more clearly later. 

The Contract Theory places too much stress on the 
free will and intellectual freedom of primitive man. 
It presupposes a too 'highly developed mind in early 
man, whom we know to have been a wild and crouch- 
ing savage. Though man was born into government, 
as it were, yet contract did doubtless play no little part 
in the shaping of government and moulding some of 
its later forms. Deliberate choice must have been be- 
hind many phenomena in early statecraft. It is an 
essential part in the development, but not to be desig- 
nated as such in the origin. 

So in the Theories of An Original Lawgiver and 
Divine Right we may trace the thread of exaggerated 
truth. On one hand, government was not a manufac- 
tured article, given over to man's use from God; nor, 
on the other hand, was it wholly a human contrivance. 
It was both: divine, as life is the vital force behind, 
inherently involved in man's nature; human, as man 
directed this force and gave it various expression. Its 
origin was spontaneous and natural — an absolute ne- 
cessity for human society. It was twin-born with man 
and the family. Explain the origin of the family and 
you have the origin of government. Aristotle was 
right when 'he said that "Man is by nature a political 
animal." By the very law of his birth he is social, he 
enters society and when once in society, he must inevi- 
tably make the best of his relations. But if govern- 
ment were of spontaneous origin, it was profoundly 
affected by human will and choice. If the contract the- 
ory had only claimed that government was modified by 
man's volition it would have been essentially true. But 



JOHN CARLTON ELLER 205 

it assumed too much. Man did not originate his gov- 
ernment entirely any more than he originated himself. 

As already intimated, my inclination is toward the 
patriarchal theory. We have examined the various 
theories and tried to interpret the facts and their mean- 
ing. Now let us see what seems to be the true origin 
of government and its psychological meaning. 

Our problem is to find why did the phenomenon of 
government originate, and how this origin came about. 
It seems evident that government is the product of 
necessity. It would be strange to find organization in 
society throughout the world in all ages of man's life, 
were it not a necessity — a great first need. This 
necessity, we believe, exists from the very nature of 
man. He is a social being, even from his birth, yearn- 
ing for intercourse with others to satisfy his own being. 
Prof. Drummond says that "looking broadly at nature, 
one general fact is striking — the more social animals 
are in overwhelming preponderance over the unsocial" 
(Ascent of Man, p. 238). Regarding man even as a 
mere animal he seems naturally social. Much more 
should he appear so when we think of his vast supe- 
riority in the possession of a wondrous intellect, whose 
nature makes it attend to other objects and beings for 
self-satisfaction. Though primitive man is doubtless 
eminently selfish, this very selfishness demands gratifi- 
cations in social intercourse. The hermit is an exam- 
ple of distorted and misdirected selfishness. Hoftding 
(p. 249) says: "The relation between mother and 
child gives the most primitive family and most primi- 
tive human society. It makes a pure 'state of nature,' 
an absolute individualism impossible." This original 
impulse, instinct, or whatever it is, leads unconsciously 
at first, it may be, to the first narrow form of govern- 



206 FRANKLIN PLATO ELLER 

merit, and afterwards growing naturally, though 
strange to say, into an organization checking the very 
passions that called it forth. This we consider the 
Why of government; now to the How. 

Historically, the given facts point to kinship as the 
first and basal tie of social existence and organization. 
The tribe and gens are clearly very early forms of 
society — cherishing the belief in common origin. In 
early society we do not find the individual playing an 
important part. He has importance only as connected 
with the family. The family seems to be the basal 
unit, the important factor. And this is natural and 
logical, if we admit that man has inborn in him a social 
tendency, for it would be natural and not human for 
man to prefer association with strangers, alios, rather 
than his own kin. The very fact that we find the prin- 
ciple of adoption or feigned relationship playing a large 
part in early society confirms the belief that kinship 
was the ruling idea, the fundamental necessity for 
social organization. As is seen throughout all life, the 
principles of nutrition (self) and of reproduction 
(otherself) are the ruling instincts in early man. 
They are indissoluble. Government, it seems to me, 
is the logical outcome of their action. The self, even 
did it try, could not escape its dependence on parents, 
on the relationship of intimate associates. It feels this 
dependence, and self-satisfaction is the result of the 
necessary gratification of this instinct. Henry Drum- 
mond clearly puts it: "These two objects are thus 
wholly different. The first (nutrition) has a purely 
personal end; its attention is turned inward; it exists 
only for the present. The second (reproduction) in 
a greater or less degree is impersonal ; its attention is 
turned outward ; it lives for the future. One of these 



JOHN CARLTON ELLER 207 

objects, in other words, is self-regarding; the other is 
other-regarding. Both, of course, at the outset are 
wholly selfish; both are parts of the struggle for life." 
(Ascent of Man, p. 221). We cannot conceive a sin- 
gle man in nature without bonds of kinship. It is 
against nature's ordering. The eternal arrangement 
makes him a part of somebody else. There we have 
society in its simplest form — a relationship and socia- 
bility which is inevitable. From it the ties of kinship 
reach from one individual to another and thus the 
larger social units are evolved. 

May we not even today see distinct traces of an 
early patriarchal principle in slavery, subjection of 
woman, the wardship of children, etc. ? These are all 
in keeping with the idea that there was a father with 
supreme ownership and control. In India and China 
we find wondrous fossilized forms of government, 
showing distinct marks of the basal idea of family. In 
China paternalism reigns ; in India caste is supreme. 

But developed forms of government appear to be 
based on the individual. The family has lost its 
whilom station. Why is this — what is the psycholog- 
ical meaning of this origin and growth of government? 
To me, its meaning is this. Government took its rise 
in the feelings. Its development has been a growth. 
It has simply been the working-out of human nature. 
The form which has best fitted its people, has enclosed. 
Thus Monarchy, Aristocracy, and Democracy, as Aris- 
totle graduated it, set forth in outer form the inward 
character of their underlying life. First, Monarchy, 
the rule of one man, derived from the belief in patri- 
archal authority. Then Aristocracy, where the few, 
great and strong, usurp or assert the power. Lastly, 



208 FRANKLIN PLATO ELLER 

Democracy, where the people themselves come to a 
realization and assertion of their rights and powers. 

Here we see feeling at first dominant. The people 
look upon their patriarch or king as half divine. Awe, 
reverence, love — it is pure feeling — else why this de- 
votion, this humble obedience. Later mental growth 
teaches the fact of the importance of the people, of the 
individual. This, when fully realized, works revolu- 
tions. The teachings of Locke and Rousseau did much 
toward the French Revolution and American Inde- 
pendence, in the fact that they emphasized the impor- 
tance of the individual. 

Another fact helps explain the origin and rise of 
government and also corroborates the importance of 
feeling. Every human being is born into relation with 
his parents, his fellow creatures, and his God. The 
early man doubtless felt these relations in his vague 
savage mind. His narrow vision and thought were 
obscured by feeling for his closest relations, and hence 
obedience was given primarily to family, in which was 
also expressed his primitive relations to his fellows 
and his God. Family is the first government ; it is 
church and state. 

Mental growth, feeling, refined by thought develop- 
ment, gave a wider discrimination and finally the dis- 
tinct institutions, church and state, were evolved from 
the family. Hoffman in "The Sphere of the State" 
(p. 207), speaking of the relation of family and state, 
says that family, church and state "are so intimately 
related to one another that any injury to one is an 
injury to all, and all good that comes to one is shared 
by all. They rise or fall together." Ancient mythol- 
ogy and barbaric religions of today which worship as 
gods their ancestors who are dead and now exert a 



JOHN CARLTON ELLER 209 

mysterious power over them, prove the vital fact of 
kinship, of the original identity of family, church and 
state. All early governments are theocratic in form. 
The king is priest, from very necessity. The thing 
above all needed is obedience, and this could not be 
had under dual government. Fear and reverence 
(feeling) alone, allied with family, could tame the 
wild savage to the habits and customs of regular law. 
Thus a cake of custom was formed, the basis for fur- 
ther growth. Because mankind was ever growing, 
and the kingdom of the dead increasing, economy de- 
manded the development of statecraft, or government 
for the living, and priestcraft, or care for the dead. 

The purity of the Jewish family was unequalled. 
Hence its religion was kept intact — one secret, I doubt 
not, of its great spiritual power. It emphasized kin- 
ship) — feeling. Other races broke up the cake of cus- 
tom and their family relation, either because of migra- 
tion on one hand, or stagnation on the other, and em- 
phasized other things or lapsed into gross forms of 
religion and life. The Aryan, in his ceaseless migra- 
tion, was concerned more with the living than the dead. 
Thus he developed great powers in statecraft, keeping 
latent the religious power in his purity of family. 
When Christianity and Teutonic genius for govern- 
ment met, they gave to the world its strongest char- 
acter. 

Thus we might give many proofs of the common ori- 
gin of church and state — in the family — in feeling — 
immortality, at its origin, seems to have been a hope, 
not of perpetual individual life, but of reunited family 
life. Family customs have been the basis of all codes 
of laws, family religion underlies all theologies and 
churches, family occupations were the germ of all 

14- 



210 FRANKLIN PLATO ELLER 

industries. The sacrifice of family at Lacedsemonia 
brought on vice and spiritual decay. The fact that 
Greece and Rome discouraged family life was a potent 
force in their destruction, because it lowered the moral 
standard. Polygamy traces its foul and deadly track 
across any government that tolerates it. In short, any 
government that emphasizes the pure family exalts its 
influence and guarantees its life. 

Ancient government rested on the authority of the 
inherent common will, Which is that immemorial cus- 
tom: be preserved. This is distinctively feeling. Mod- 
ern government rests on the authority of opinion, dis- 
covered in the majority. This is what we call reason. 
It is feeling refined and directed by thought. We have 
feeling in the desire to preserve our established and 
cherished forms; reason, however, makes us different 
from the ancients in desire, and knowledge how, to 
alter forms. In first government, man lives for the 
government. Now man has grown to the power where 
he sees that government exists for him. There has 
been an advance from the vague individual to the par- 
ticular and self-assertive individual. We have come 
from very egoistic feelings to more ethical ones. Hol- 
ding puts it well (p. 256) : "In historical development, 
a relentless logic is at work, leading sympathy to conquer 
not only personal egoism, but also the egoism of fam- 
ily and of nation and creed. Impartial knowledge 
works into the hands of widest sympathy and both 
come to a stop only at natural boundaries." 

In conclusion, we believe we have discovered and 
shown that government is the natural product of man's 
nature ; that this nature is first evident as feeling, ex- 
pressing itself in government based on the closer feel- 
ings of kinship and family; that in this first govern- 



JOHN CARLTON ELLER 211 

ment were involved both the ecclesiastical and secular ; 
that their divergence and distinction were the result of 
man's growth in thought or cognition, refining and 
directing the primal egoistic instincts into the later 
altruistic feelings; that accordingly the forms of gov- 
ernment have been a gradation from monarchical to 
democratic; and that from the family as a unit we 
have come to the individual as a unit. Government 
has been a growth according as man's mind has devel- 
oped ; and this, we believe, has been from unconscious 
instinct to self-conscious thought and power. The 
movement has been from status to rational contract. 



THE COLLEGE FRATERNITY-AN ARGUMENT 
BEFORE THE TRUSTEES 

1. The original idea of the fraternity as an institu- 
tion we admit to be good. This idea, having for its 
aim the association of college men for strictly social 
purposes, naturally demanded the selection of men by 
standards of true and manly worth, irrespective of 
wealth, station, or surface antecedents. This idea, we 
claim, has been abused in the University of North 
Carolina. And it is against this abuse and not against 
the idea of true student fellowship that we contend. 
Institutions, though originally good, demand constant 
vigilance and watching lest they be perverted. That 
noblest of institutions, the church, has often been pros- 
tituted to the most disgraceful ends. We must remem- 
ber that institutions are organized ; they grow and 
change. Ideals shift and ideas are transformed so 
that we must constantly make reckoning to see that 



212 FRANKLIN PLATO ELLER 

we have not abandoned our original purpose and legiti- 
mate end. 

2. We claim that the fraternity idea has been abused 
in the University and that the cause of this abuse is 
that men are not required to win the election to fra- 
ternity membership by legitimate competition in manli- 
ness, character, and scholarship, but they are selected 
for other considerations. We know that, without re- 
striction, almost all fraternity men are branded, as it 
were, immediately after reaching college and taken 
into fraternities before they have given any substantial 
evidence that they will meet the high standards of char- 
acter and scholarship which the fraternity ideas claim 
to set for membership. The considerations for eligi- 
bility are almost exclusively such arbitrary qualifica- 
tions as wealth, family, or statical antecedents. And 
this latter standard having been adopted, the former 
one of character and talent, irrespective of objective 
qualifications, is adhered to even throughout the col- 
lege course, perpetuating a caste that was essentially 
arbitrary and exclusive in its beginning. If ours is a 
true university, fostering the true university idea, then 
it should sustain the broadest standards, recognize de- 
serving talent, and encourage aspiring manhood in 
every department of its varied life. 

3. We claim further that the manner of selection by 
the fraternities damages the man selected by offering a 
distinction not striven for and won ; and the man thus 
damaged in character is a disagreeable element in col- 
lege life. Men never fully appreciate a distinction or 
a possession without an effort for its attainment, and 
consequently a full and liberal consciousness of the 
duty and responsibility attached to pre-eminent sta- 
tion. The negro and the foreigner illustrate this in 



JOHN CARLTON ELLER 213 

question of citizenship and suffrage. American heir- 
esses, purchasing- titled husbands, illustrate it in Amer- 
ican society. And freshmen, unfamiliar with college 
life and untutored in college spirit, are not exceptions 
to this fundamental truth. Power and distinction in- 
volve responsibility and capacity to perform duty, 
and whenever distinction is given without some effort 
to become worthy of it, the recipient is almost invari- 
ably injured in character. So it is in the University. 
The bestowal of an honor on a Freshman, without pre- 
vious realization of its value through effort, makes him 
arrogant and unduly authoritative in matters relating 
both to his fellow students and to the University 
authorities. In short, when he is thus given distinc- 
tion and support, he becomes a disagreeable and rebel- 
lious element in college life. 

4. These men, thus initiated into the University, are 
given wrong views of college distinctions and wrong 
standards of value in bestowing honors. Even as the 
freshman was influenced and affected by his ill-judged 
elevation, so will he continue to conduct the spirit of 
his institution as he comes on in the selection of later 
initiates. Not that this is always so, but the tendency 
is such from the nature of the case. The standard of 
the distinction first given in college tends to shape the 
standards of succeeding honors. As in the first case, 
the requisites were artificial, so in succeeding ones 
they will have even a stronger tendency to be so in the 
eyes of these men, both from the force of habit, and 
the ties of interest and continuous exclusive associa- 
tion. Thus, in college, such organizations as the liter- 
ary societies are minimized, and the things pertaining 
to class and wealth are magnified. The college sport 
becomes the hero. The idol of all eyes is not he who 



214 FRANKLIN PLATO ELLER 

has commanding intellect, ability, or character, but he 
who meets the superficial, arbitrary, and unessential 
standards already pointed out. It becomes no disgrace 
in such light to fail in scholarship, even in character 
and other dynamic qualities, but it is unpardonable sin 
to fall short of the required essentials. This senti- 
ment, being prevalent among a large number of the 
students, tends to have greater or less effect on all 
others, and thus college spirit is to this degree de- 
praved and wasted. 

5. Thus the practices of the fraternities damage the 
man, foster a disagreeable element in college life and 
set up false views and standards of value. If, as we 
claim, the requisites for admission into the fraternities 
are superficial, arbitrary, and statical; if they are ob- 
jective qualifications and not subjective qualities of 
worth; then their practices are pretentions, and war 
against truth, candor and manliness. The man apply- 
ing and the man subjected to such tests are damaged 
morally; and a wrong spirit arises which inevitably 
fosters a disagreeable element that must necessarily 
resort to secret intrigue and discordant action to ac- 
complish their ends. Such life never produces that 
broad and tolerant spirit which sees things in their 
true light and measures value by just and sympathetic 
standards. It generates a narrow and partial feeling, 
prompting the man in almost every action to decide in 
favor of his own secluded and exclusive circle, even in 
opposition to larger and higher interests. (Incom- 
plete). Is this University Spirit? Is this the loyalty 
that would sacrifice self and sect for the recognized 
good of the whole student body and the University? 
You may ask if the men whom I am representing are 
not acting from selfish motives. I point you to their 



JOHN CARLTON ELLER 215 

action in this matter since the settlement made last 
year. They have not raised a hand against the con- 
certed action of all concerned, believing it to be best 
for the University to accept a compromise, even giving 
the fraternities still the advantage, after a bitter dis- 
cussion in which we were actuated by honest and sin- 
cere motives for promoting the University's good. 
That fraternity practices damage the man and foster a 
disagreeable element in college life, I point, if you will 
allow me, to the recent cases of discipline in the Uni- 
versity. Every man suspended, save perhaps one or 
two, were either fraternity men or pledged to frater- 
nities. Not that there is no dissipation outside of 
fraternities, for the influence of that spirit generated 
in fraternities cannot but extend further and damage 
in some degree men outside and in casual contact with 
it. It was a body of fraternity men who, in 1892, left 
the Di Society in a body and threatened its dissolution. 
More recent events even might demonstrate this same 
spirit, which I declare to you in all candor, I believe 
the product of the fraternity idea, abused as it is at 
present. It is a demoralizing influence, working clique 
and contention when there ought to be unity and agree- 
ment. 

6. Experience has shown that it is not wise from 
any point of view to have first year students associate 
with fraternities. This matter, I claim, must be set- 
tled by the facts of college experience. Before there 
was any opposition to fraternities in the universities 
the conditions were much different than now. To be 
a non-fraternity man was counted by many a stigma. 
By thorough agreement of the fraternities the non-frat 
men, it seems, were shut out of many privileges, espe- 
cially in social affairs. It was especially noticeable in 



216 FRANKLIN PLATO ELLER 

the first year and a half of one's college course. I 
know that leading fraternity men have granted that 
point, and said the fraternity idea was sadly abused 
before the discussion. That discussion ended in a 
compromise restricting fraternities to a year and a half 
limit. I emphatically affirm that I 'have not seen as 
healthy a college spirit in the University before as there 
has been this year. I mean by that, there has been 
more unanimity of action, a more pervasive feeling of 
fellowship, a clearer recognition of men as men than I 
have before seen. This was prominently demonstrated 
in athletics. Whether it has been partly feigned, I 
cannot say, but I believe much of it has been genuine. 
The old lines of Fraternity and Non-Fraternity I 
thought were fading away, for college politics are now 
conducted through parties containing both sides as en- 
thusiastic elements. If this better spirit was beginning 
to show, why throttle its resuscitation? (Incomplete). 



ARTICLES FROM THE WHITE AND BLUE. 
BOOK REVIEWS 

CoKur D'Alene. By Mary Hallock Foote. 12mo., 
pp. 240. Price, $1.25. Boston and New York: 
Houghton, Mifflin & Co. 

Among the many notable books of fiction produced 
this year this book takes worthy rank. It tells a story 
of the riots of 1892 at the Coeur D'Alene mines. Like 
all the novels by this lady, it is a thoroughly good 
story. The tone is pure and the impression left is 
agreeable and healthy. Simple in style, the diction is 
natural and in keeping with the other harmonious ele- 
ments of the story. It is not a book that will live long 



JOHX CARLTON ELLER 217 

or create a craze, but it is calculated to have many 
admirers and a continued appreciation by the literary 
world. — From the ''White and Blue," November 9, 
1894. 

The ASCENT of Man. By Henry Drummond. Third 
edition, pp. 346. Cloth, $2.00. New York : James 
Pott & Company. 

The author here takes a scientific view of man from 
the standpoint of evolution ; but an evolution read- 
justed and "drawn to scale" is his standard. It is 
taken in a broad and Christian view. The theme, the 
author tells us, " is Ascent, not Descent ; it is a story, 
not an argument." "It is a study in embryo, in rudi- 
ments, in installations ; the scene is the primitive for- 
est; the date the world's dawn." The book is neither 
too technical for the general reader, nor too general 
for the specialist. It is a popular presentation of a 
universally interesting subject. In solidity and real 
worth it is one of the most notable books of the time. 
—From the "White and Blue," November 23, 1894. 

J. C. Eller wrote the opening article in Vol. I, No. 1, 
March 8, 1894, of "The White and Blue," edited as 
follows : 

BOARD OF EDITORS. 

Leonard C. Van Noppen, Chairman. 
Joe E. Alexander, Thos. J. Wilson, 

J. O. Carr, Jno. C. Eller, 

W. C. Smith, H. E. C. Bryant. 

BUSINESS MANAGERS. 

A. B. Kimball, E. W. Brawley. 



218 FRANKLIN PLATO ELLER 

"The Growth oe the University." 

In review of President Winston's recent report to 
the trustees, it is indeed gratifying to see the official 
statistics of the continued growth of the University. 
Three hundred and eighty-five students have been 
enrolled this year, making an increase of 69 over 
the attendance of last year, and a gain of 187 in three 
years. There are 352 students from North Carolina, 
being more by 59 than the largest enrollment in the 
history of the University. Fourteen States, embrac- 
ing an area from Connecticut to Texas and from Min- 
nesota to Florida, are represented this year; while 
far-away Japan sends us an unique "Christmas gift" 
in the person of an aspiring son. 

Athletics are justly given prominent mention as an 
auxiliary to the healthy inner life of the University, 
the advanced grade of intellectual work done and the 
excellent healthfulness of the students. 

Evidence of the constantly broadening life of the 
University is seen in the demand for Summer Schools 
for both men and women in the various departments of 
the College. 

With the increase in students, there necessarily 
should come the need of expansion in the capacities of 
the University in many directions if its growth would 
be steady and permanent. Especially, as the report 
shows, is there urgent need for the erection of two dor- 
mitories; a Y. M. C. A. building, centrally situated, 
with gymnasium, reading room and University office 
attached ; and the employment of more teachers. The 
erection of a Commons Hall is also suggested, whereby 
cheap and suitable board may be obtained by needy 
students. Dr. Winston well says : "Among the board- 



JOHN CARLTON ELLER 219 

ing places in the village there is a tendency to higher 
prices not accompanied by a compensating tendency to 
better food." 

The incorporation of the Law School, which num- 
bers 65 this year, placing it on the same footing with 
the other departments, marks another step in advance. 

In speaking of the inner life of the University, the 
President says: "My acquaintance with the Univer- 
sity as student and teacher extends through twenty- 
eight years, and I cheerfully testify that I have never 
known less vice, immorality, idleness and disorder than 
during the present year." This statement should carry 
weight and the student body should endeavor to sus- 
tain the further truth which he strongly declares, that : 
"The University is not a factory where character, cul- 
ture, and physical power are made to order and worn 
like other garments. Rather it is a vital organism 
where men grow daily into large stature by self-effort, 
and absorb into their inner selves the strong nourish- 
ment that feeds only those who earn it." 

All our growth, it should be remembered, has been 
in the face of many adverse circumstances. The worst 
financial panic of the last half-century has just swept 
over the country ; and, as all growth meets with oppo- 
sition, efforts have been and are making for the injury 
of our growing influence. But the University idea 
will prevail because it represents the free development 
and exercise of man's capabilities directed aright, as 
against the narrow intolerance of the prejudiced and 
ignorant. The true University fosters the broadest 
freedom and recognizes talent that deserves and man- 
hood that aspires. 



220 FRANKLIN PLATO ELLER 

Vol. 2. September 21, 1894. No. 2. 

"THE WHITE AND BLUE." 

University of North Carolina. 

BOARD OF EDITORS. 

John C. Eller, A. B. Kimball, 

John A. Moore, L. C. Brogden, 

Geo. H. Kirby. Thos. L. Wright. 

J. W. Canada. 

BUSINESS MANAGERS. 

James O. Carr, A. H. Robbins. 

J. C. Eller wrote a number of articles for this issue ; 
we give the following : 

Scope o* "The White and Blue." 

The proposed consolidation of the two college week- 
lies having been abandoned, because the scheme was 
thought impracticable by many of the supporters of 
either paper, it may be well to define the exact scope 
of the "White and Blue." The expansion of the Uni- 
versity in latter years has been so marked that its life 
and interests have likewise become many-sided and 
extensive. The other weekly is the creature of an 
athletic body, primarily instituted for the expression 
and representation of the athletic interests of the Uni- 
versity. There are other interests that demand equally 
as much representation as athletics, and it is for these 
interests that the "White and Blue" proposes to stand. 
It will endeavor to represent and emphasize the liter- 
ary, scientific, religious and social phases of college 
life and work, while also incidentally giving its read- 
ers a synopsis of the work in athletics. We shall do 
all we can for athletics, because we believe in them. 



JOHN CARLTON ELLER 221 

But we believe our field is broad enough to justify its 
distinct and thorough representation and that the im- 
portance of it will likewise create and maintain a sub- 
stantial support. With this aim and belief, we greet 
the coming year with faith in the attainment of whole- 
some results. 

Melancholia. 

Thou dire, despised and hideous Thing! 
Thy diabolic fancies ring, 
Thy loathsome limbs forever cling, 
About my shuddering soul ! 

Thou art the prince of demons dire, 
Thy breath is a consuming fire, 
Thy hellish tortures never tire 
To taunt my stricken soul ! 

To sap the energies of youth, 
Establish sin instead of truth, 
And leave the mind a waste uncouth, 
To thee is joy complete. 

Thy victims strew the march of man 
Thy venom slays in rear and van ; 
E'er since man's pilgrimage began, 
Thy gloom has hovered near. 

Whate'er thy cause, whate'er thy cure 
To doom forlorn thy wiles allure 
The ones who punily endure 
Thy ever tight'ning coils. 

Arouse, my soul ! thy latent power, 

Remove the canker from the flower, 

Forge forward to the hero's tower 

And guard it to the death ! 

Carlton, '96. 



222 FRANKLIN PLATO ELLER 

The Doubter. 

He who doubts with honest heart 

And ever seeks for truth divine, 
Sees farthest into Nature's soul; 

To him mlore clear her secrets shine. 

Contented not with creed of Eld, 
He penetrates the darksome way ; 

Ahead in quest he flashes far 

Truth's searchlight, clear and strong as day. 

He does not doubt for dearth of faith; 

No one more firmly holds his creed, 
Whene'er its reasons stand revealed 

And fact with theory is agreed. 

Then cease to censure honest doubt ! 

A truth most practical be taught ! 
That man must grope in doubt and fear, 

Before truth's jewel to the light is brought. 
University of N. C. J. C. EllER, '96. 



MODERN CHIVALRY-AN ESSAY 

Every age has its hero, every century its type. Some 
characteristic idea is ever struggling for expression 
and embodiment in some typical personage, the hero 
and type of :his age. In the calm retrospect of the 
past, Whose "distance lends enchantment to the view," 
we can more or less clearly descry the procession of 
heroes and the institutions which they represent. The 
age of chivalry marks a great epoch in human history 
and its distinctive type is the gallant knight, whose 
deeds resound through history and lend a charm to all 



JOHN CARLTON ELLER 223 

subsequent literature. But the nineteenth century is 
so near us, its power and greatness are so transcendent 
that we are bewildered in attempting to read its mean- 
ing or seek out its type. 

No age of the past possesses more fascination and 
charm than the chivalric days of bold and gallant 
knighthood. The faults of chivalry admitted, it still 
commands our admiration for the cardinal and whole- 
some virtues which it taught. It was imbued with the 
spirit of loyalty and ever taught the strictest fidelity to 
all pledges. It magnified even to a fault that Chris- 
tian courtesy which counted it basest treachery to with- 
hold kindness from the bitterest foe. The gallantry 
of knighthood has never been surpassed in its inspir- 
ing devotion to woman, especially to the chosen object 
of love. Delighting in daring exploits and seeking 
new fields for personal prowess, the Mediaeval Knight 
cultivated that dauntless courage which never knew to 
fear. The ideal of chivalry was honor, as it was 
understood, but its distinctive spirit could find room 
for exercise only amid conflict and bloodshed, which it 
naturally tended to promote. 

Now and then a lovable character emerges from the 
martial environment and gives a feeling of relief. 
Sir Philip Sydney, Chevalier Bayard and Sir Walter 
Raleigh are inspiring figures, but they represent a 
knighthood of ill-directed energy. The old chivalry 
was a piece of beautiful and fantastic frostwork, which 
has dissolved in the beams of a higher civilization. 

This was the chivalry of the past. It has yielded to 
the irresistible advance of humanity, but its better and 
nobler elements still live. 

Ours is the chivalry of the present. Instead of 
wasteful war, idle tourney, or fantastic love, the Mod- 



224 FRANKLIN PLATO ELLER 

ern Knight seeks employ in the practical fields of util- 
ity. Instead of foolish, ill-starred Crusades, the Nine- 
teenth Century Knight seeks his physical development 
in explorations and discoveries. A Stanley opens the 
treasury of a dark continent to the world, and a Greely 
braves the dangers of the Arctic for the sake of science 
and discovery. The missionary is the modern cru- 
sader, but his weapon is the Holy Bible. Which 
deserves the greater credit for his life-work, Prince 
Hal, the old cavalier, or Henry Martyn? Contrast 
the lives of Richard the Lion Heart, and Livingstone, 
or Thomas a Becket and Adoniram Judson, and the 
differences of the old and the new chivalry are appar- 
ent. This type of modern knight Charles Dickens had 
in mind when he said : "The average American would 
refuse to board a train for Heaven, unless assured he 
could go further west on his arrival. . . ." 

Our age, then, is one of work. It is the century of 
utility, ennobled by high aims and lofty ideals. All 
that was poetic and imaginative, however, did not per- 
ish with the old chivalry. The change has been a log- 
ical one and the roots of the past have blossomed into 
the fruit of the present. 

Not only is this the century of work, it is the age of 
humanity. The world's barometer never before regis- 
tered so high a fellow-feeling, so deep a sense of 
human brotherhood as it does today. This, I contend, 
is the best age of all the world, and every succeeding 
moment means an appreciable accretion to the world's 
stock of happiness and goodness. 

That devotion for woman, which the old chivalry 
fostered, has broadened into a feeling of sacred rever- 
ence and elevated her to her true position. Psycholog- 
ical study has revealed the nature of child-life which is 



JOHN CARLTON ELLER 225 

leading to its emancipation from cruel and senseless 
thralldom. This century has been marked by marvel- 
ous changes in the overthrow of abuses, in the removal 
or modification of vested rights, in enlargement of 
popular liberties. The progress in material growth, in 
inventions, in science, in discovery, in religious activ- 
ities, in civil and religious freedom, in humanitarian 
reform, in international ethics, in the science of poli- 
tics, in every sphere of activity leading to human hap- 
piness, has been truly amazing. There have been 
struggles, on which were staked vital interests of the 
human race, the result of which has shown a percepti- 
ble advance toward popular freedom and human equal- 
ity. The whole age is luminous with the light of 
growth and liberty. . . . 

This, too, is the century of toleration. Our chivalry 
has come to be one of ethics. It is the tourney and tilt 
of mind rather than that of physical power that tells, 
and he who stands in the van of ethical and manly 
righteousness is our greatest knight. The ancient 
chivalry confined all honors to the circles of high caste, 
but in our system the rail-splitter or orphan boy may 
dare to enter the lists and win the highest approval. 
Never before was there felt such an interest in man 
and nature. And according to this quickened interest 
there has been a geometrical progression in the higher 
life of man. We see the constant operation of arbi- 
tration in international disputes. Human slavery 'has 
met its deathblow. In England, Corporation and Test 
Acts have been repealed, universities liberalized, Ro- 
man Catholics and Jews relieved of civil disabilities, 
and the franchise extended and representation equal- 
ized. The criminal code has been humanized, death 
penalties have been restricted and the light of day has 

15 



226 FRANKLIN PLATO ELLER 

been let into prisons. Monopolies have been over- 
thrown, municipal corporations reformed, chancery 
and common law courts made accessible to suitors, 
poor laws improved, the post-office has been made the 
servant of every one, and public education placed in 
reach of all. 

These great changes are the product of Anglo-Saxon 
genius. Rising ever higher in the scale of civilization, 
the Anglo-Saxon has touched this whole world with 
his vigor and his power. If we can find the highest 
type of this Anglo-Saxon genius we shall have the 
Knight of the Nineteenth Century. The two great 
ideas for which he will stand will be civil liberty and 
pure, spiritual Christianity. 

The man whom I consider the best type of his race 
and his age, and the best expression of their funda- 
mental life, is William Ewart Gladstone. For a half- 
century he has stood in the forefront of the history of 
the greatest nation on earth. In his life the moral and 
spiritual elements are dominant, and his pole star is 
justice. He accepts Christianity not simply as an in- 
tellectual creed, but as a personal belief, operative on 
human conduct, vitalizing motive, imposing obligation, 
offering rewards. Never does his moral earnestness, 
scrupulous conscientiousness, or exaltation of charac- 
ter yield to chicanery or mere expediency. The hu- 
mane spirit of the age appears in his heroic and unsel- 
fish championship of the downtrodden Irish. 

No other civilian (and our knight is a civilian) in 
this country has awakened such popular enthusiasm, 
has commanded such zealous following, has been iden- 
tified with so many and such great measures. And 
why is this so? It is because he embodies the spirit of 



JOHN CARLTON ELLER 227 

the age, and has the eminent power and unflinching 
will to dare to champion the truth. 

Gladstone, like our century, is really too near us in 
time for a full appreciation of his worth. But no 
surer index can be given us than his constant and 
devoted popularity. Apart from his vast and ready 
information, his versatility of intellect, his adminis- 
trative genius, and his entrancing eloquence, his hu- 
mane and loving spirit has perforce won and held the 
heart and mind of the English-speaking race. He is 
the greatest living champion of justice and right, of 
honor and freedom, of peace and goodwill, the greatest 
commoner of the century, the Grand Old Man, the true 
Knight of the Nineteenth Century. He is the most 
chivalric knight that has jousted for honor or tilted in 
the lists of human endeavor in this century. But no 
one living man can be said to represent all the activi- 
ties of an age, especially one of such huge endeavor as 
ours. There is that knight of invention, Thomas A. 
Edison, who stands for a force that has wrought stu- 
pendous changes in civilization. After the inventor in 
time, but by no means in power, may be placed the man 
of wealth, the millionaire, a knight that bids fair to 
unhorse all opponents in the tilts of the coming years. 
Unless the George Peabody or Peter Cooper type pre- 
vail, he may be watched with fear, for his god is a 
false god, and his creed is the creed of coin. 

But let us not be daunted in hope if the Knights of 
Evil sometimes win the approving smile, for as sure as 
we are better than our fathers, so sure are we worse 
than our sons will be. The world is growing better 
and the powers of darkness shall not prevail over the 
powers of goodness. 

Mankind has advanced, both in body and in spirit, 



228 FRANKLIN PLATO ELLER 

grown to be at once more delicate and more enduring, 
more sensitive to weariness and yet more patient of 
toil, impressible, but capable of bearing powerful irri- 
tation, we are woven of finer fiber, which, though ap- 
parently frail, yet outlasts the coarser, as rich and 
costly garments oftentimes wear better than those of 
rougher workmanship. 

The Knight of the Nineteenth Century is a versatile, 
many-sided, fully developed man. Not only is he en- 
dowed with physical prowess, but he seeks the highest 
skill in the intellectual realm. Not content with a 
dead formalism or ritualistic faith he lives his re- 
ligion. . . . 



CLASS FAREWELL 

Ladies and Gentlemen: 

Today you witness the leavetaking of the class of 
'96 from our beloved University home, and see us 
enter on the highway of strenuous life. It marks the 
fruition of our youth into the soberer strength of man- 
hood. Here are focused the lines of our past life, 
and from this point radiate the aspirations and prom- 
ises of all that the future should contain. It is the 
supreme turning point in our lives. The directions of 
our different courses now diverge, and the tide must 
be taken at the flood, or our ways will abound in the 
shallows of disappointment. 

Our historian has recorded the eventful stories of 
the past, teeming with marvelous exploits and heroic 
happenings. Our prophet has pierced the mystic veil 
of futurity and revealed the inspiring vision of that 
which is to come. Our poet has wrought the epic of 
our college life, and sung the strains of fancy-fash- 



JOHN CARLTON ELLER 229 

ioned ideals. Our statistician has taken a census of 
our traits and talents and given you the cold facts 
about our personalities. 

There is little left for me to say, save to speak the 
parting word and thank you all for your patience and 
sympathy: Let me say, however, that our parting as 
undergraduates for the last time, though colored with 
pleasure and congratulation, is still a moment of sin- 
cere sadness, a time that prompts regrets. 

Indeed, I am sure that '96 will ever cherish in lasting 
love the kindly village- folk of Chapel Hill, the indul- 
gent and cultured members of our learned faculty and 
their gracious families, the true and loyal student body 
and first, last, and all the time our beloved Alma Mater, 
the good old University. 

Fellow Comrades: 

For four fleeting years we have tarried together in 
this sacred seat of learning, from a terror-stricken mob 
of more than a hundred freshmen we have come 
through the valley of the shadow, shorn of our num- 
bers, but, let us hope, chastened for nobler living and 
equipped for greater deeds. 

Our college life here, they say, is but a miniature of 
the great world-life beyond. Though our ways have 
often been checkered by disappointment and difference, 
still the retrospect will ever glow with the gladsome 
remembrance of fellowship and the touching thought 
of happy association. 

For the past, then let us ; have regrets for the mis- 
takes, and cover them with the mantle of charity. 
For the present, let us make high resolves to stand ever 
in the forefront of the fight for truth, and clasp hands 
in loving comradeship in defense of those principles 



230 FRANKLIN PLATO ELLER 

which we all cherish. For the future, let our aims be 
lofty, our aspirations noble, our characters true and 
stainless — and for the rest let there be no fear. 

Learning is supreme and we are its champions. 
This University is the place where men are made. 
The fruitage of its endeavor must be manhood, schol- 
arship, character — or its existence becomes a mockery. 
Let us never lower the standard of its high life, but 
rather strive to intensify the types which it seeks to 
develop. 

I speak to you as a fellow comrade, and I know that 
in your hearts there pulsates a cordial response to 
aught of truth I may have uttered, and in that glad as- 
surance I feel with confidence the certainty of your 
success. 

And with these words of hope and cheer let the fare- 
well word be said. May each one of us, following 
forth his preferred profession, carve enduring figures 
of righteous achievement on the tablet of his time and 
live a beacon-life of manliness and power. 



JOHN CARLTON ELLER 231 

Ol)e 3£rotI)£rs 



An Elegy in Memory of My College Mates, 
Plato and John Eller. 



They need no monument ; their living names 

Bloom like twin lilies in the hand of death ! 

O ye, who grieve for their ungathered fames ; 

Who mourn for them as dead 

With all their hopes unharvested ; 

Ye, who have seen 

The gradual green 

Mantle their naked graves ; 

Who weep that they so lowly lie 

Vaulted by the vast arches of the sky, 

Windowed to all the winds ! who yearn 

To see them memoried by marble urn 

Or solemn^templed cenotaph, and sigh 

Because no roof their ashes covereth, 

No towered shrine to blazon their renown ; 

O ye, for them, who crave a lustred crown, 

Let no harsh plaint and shrill draw near 

Their pleasant sleep, no futile tear. 

For these are not the slaves 

Of Death, but his companions, free, 

The lords of immortality; 

Each at his feast a rare and laureled guest : 

Make them not poor who are so rich in rest. 

Like to eternal listeners, 
So still they lie, 



232 FRANKLIN PLATO ELLER 

Where they can hear no cry, 

And no bough stirs 

Of Death's memorial firs. 

Softly they lie, 

Where never sigh 

Can enter, with unwaking eye. 

Who ripened, ah, too soon ! 

And fell before their noon, 

Lustreless; each imperial head, 

Bowed to the dust, unchapleted ! 

They fell? Nay, brightly rose, 

Winging to high repose, 

Singing like the young lark, 

Darting over the dark 

Into the morning. Hark ! 

Eager to hail the east 

How joyfully he sings 

Lending the world of things 

A happiness of wings ; 

But they, from gloom released, 

Beyond the years, in some sublimer West 

Are havened now, all quiet after quest. 

O ye, who loved them so, 
Be no more sad to know 
How over them the snow 
Spreads a white silence, falling 
As from the wings of death, 
Soft as an infant's breath 
And softer than the calling 
To roses of the rain. 
Speak, Oh ! so gently, lest, 
By your loud woe opprest, 
Thev waken with a wild amaze, 



JOHN CARLTON ELLER 233 

Facing remembered pain, 

Startled to life again 

By the approach of your belated praise. 

To them with vision garmented how vain 

The pomps of time, the bugle and the bays ! 

Their seats are empty and the lofty place 

Aches for the lordship of a noble face, 

Now seen of men no more. 

Oh ! let me strew around 

Roses of royal sound 

And wreathe their brows with amaranth who bore 

The banner of their youth 

Unsullied towards the truth 

And passed through death as through a silent door. 

I see him yet. Oh, could I see as then 

That figure of defiance, as he stood, 

Isled in a hush, in all his goodlihood, 

Superb, majestical, a man of men! 

I see him yet, the elder of these twain, 

Flushed with the vision, avid to attain, 

Leaning toward the morrows, mad to run 

Telling the nations of the risen sun! 

I hear again his resonant voice, that rang 

Clear as a clarion amid the clang 

And clash of our dissensions, when he spurned 

The wrong with flaming utterance, that burned 

The very air, while with his sacred ire 

His head was haloed as with golden fire. 

And we, who listened, were uplifted — rose, 

All exultation, like the condor's wing, 

To the warm ether, borne above the snows 

Of the cold mind ! His was the hand to fling 



234 FRANKLIN PLATO ELLER 

The brand of challenge ; his, the heel to crush 
The pliant sycophant ; and like the rush 
Of mighty wings the whirling of his wrath, 
Sweeping like leaves obstructions from its path. 

His was no voice to cheer, nor art to charm, 
Who, true to truth and loyal to the light, 
Forbore not from the battle ; but, with arm 
Uplift in splendid anger, ruled the hour. 
We knew his face the very face of power, 
His hand-tossed hair the roused mane of might, 
As casting off his mantle of repose, 
Mounting the highest moment, he uprose, 
Stern and austere, a tower of rectitude, 
With something of the lion in his look, 
Ruddy and rugged, one, whose accents took 
The silence, overwhelming like a flood ! 
He was a man, for mastership and sway 
Chosen of stars; who, steadfast as the rock, 
Fearless in fear, and like the storm to mock, 
Sovran of scorn, high, like a scourge to flay, 
Lifted a lash of lightnings, while the Lie 
Cowered and quailed before his conquering eye. 
Then Death awoke and whispered him away. 

Folded forever more are those strong hands, 

Sinewed for struggle, silent is that tongue, 

On which, unbreathing, hung 

The Future, with intense 

And passionate suspense. 

Ah ! that imperial mouth, 

Mighty to shape heroical commands, 

Is mute forever, and the parching South 

As in a desert lies 



JOHN CARLTON ELLER 235 

Beneath delirious skies, 

With half-remembering eyes, 

Thirsting for eloquence ! 

Who now remains so valiant to revive 

Her drooping visions? Who of all that dream 

Shall speak the word which shall her name redeem? 

And who of heart so puissant shall strive 

With unobsequiou'S will 

To set upon a hill 

The gates of morning? Who, now he is cold, 

Shall up the mountains bear the gates of gold? 

Haply they called "him, they, who in high calm 

Forget the pang, the passion and the palm ; 

They, who of old, 

Triumphant, bold, 

Kept the dark fords of trial, 

Hurling at wrong 

Like some wild song 

The wrath of their denial ; — 

They, who were first to dare, 

Whose still far-whispered names 

The sullen tyrant shames 

Back to his shadowed lair ; — 

They, Who in gloom were once a spreading glory, 

Throbbing like stars in the long night of story ; 

Whose treasured words the chanting winds intone 

Through wooded Carolina, wondering, 

After the cease of their deep thundering, 

Who shall prolong 

That proudest song, 

Since he is fled, to other forum flown. 

Haply they called him, owning him their Head, 
Unto the mighty Senate of The Dead ; 



236 FRANKLIN PLATO ELLER 

Where with his voice that rings 

Like the rich scorn of kings, 

Pleading some fallen planet's dying Cause 

With the most burning word 

By the Immortals heard, 

He warms those pallid Sessions to applause. 

There in no doubt he stands, 

Poising his sure commands, 

And with a look as regal 

As of some lordly eagle 

By one majestic gesture of his hands 

Waves back that battle of lies 

Warring against the Skies ; 

Or, like some steadfast star, 

That Orator into his orbit draws 

Rebellion's meteor brands ; 

Or old Despair defies, 

That virgin Hope denies 

Her happy heritage ; 

And there with bardic rage 

And with the poet's passion, without pause 

He shall sublimely wage 

Love's just and holy war, 

Till Hate's discordant Anarchies, 

Chained by his eloquence in singing bands, 

Follow his triumph, musical with laws ! 

Thus hoar Injustice from her dateless sway 

He sweeps to gulfs of death 

With such most glorious breath 

It floods the dark with universal day. 

So I behold him, wonderful in power, 

A prophet, throned upon a fateful hour, 



JOHN CARLTON ELLER 237 

Crying against the anger of the Dark, 
Till ancient Hell and all its echoes hark. 

For not alone on earth 

Must Right clash arms with Wrong; 

But the firm soul and strong, 

Stronger with every birth, 

Meets battle on the Heights 

Amid the armied lights. 

And there, as here, shall conquer with a song. 

And now to him so young, 

Who like the swan upflung, 

Singing, his life into the silent skies, 

Let me bring blooms that bleed 

From love's melodious mead, 

And make to live the music in his eyes. 

Not even Death could dull 

That Spirit beautiful, 

Not even Death with all his art of fears ; 

For he, exceeding bright, 

Shattered the brittle night, 

His memory a rainbow on our tears ! 

It was a quiet place. 
Where with a radiant face 
And morning in his hair 
He came to lighten care, 
Merry with carollings, 
As of a bird that sings ; 
And made a glory there, 
As where the violet springs 
And like some broidered gem 
Brightens the sombre hem 



238 FRANKLIN PLATO ELLER 

Of Winter's fading, chill 

And cheerless robe of shadow ; — 

It was a quiet meadow, 

Closed to all tumult, where the world's loud roar 

Was a far murmur, and one pebbled rill, 

The dancing babe of some sky- wedded hill, 

Babbled in syllables of the large sea, 

Where winds are friends and all the ways are free, 

And the wild wave may wanton from the shore ; — 

It was a sheltered place, 

Too low for grandeur, yet wfhere every grace, 

Faith, Hope and Charity, 

And also Joy and Peace, 

Clasped hands and made such harmony 

That sorrows softly cease : 

A future-fitting home ! 

Whose threshold was content, 

Where life and life's wide liberty 

Like some yet nameless continent 

Called for 'his glad discovery . 

Across the surging foam. 

And when ihe fared on his adventurous quest 

And looked on Life and gazed into her breast, 

He recognized the friend of his young dreams, 

One whom he alwa}^s knew; 

And so he trusted her he found so true, 

So rich in love and fair with starry beams. 

Spontaneous truth 

Sprang from his youth ; 

Who, in his native innocence, 

Confronted human guile 

With a forgiving smile 

And with a hush could overlook offense. 



JOHX CARLTON ELLER 239 

Loving so much he surely understood 
And faced the world and all its glistering shows 
As one who knows, as one who truly knows, 
And therefore found the heart of evil good. 

Like some tall cedar, green 
With everlastingness, 

He grew in simple grandeur, seen 
Only of eyes that bless. 

As through a crystal vase his candour beamed 

Till all who saw him looked as they had dreamed ; 

ilis lucent words were chaste and delicate 

As silver doves beneath the ivied eaves ; 

He seemed as he could nothing hate save hate, 

One who aloud the beautiful believes. 

He gave to all that lives 

Such justice as the sun 

To earth with silence gives, 

And nothing saw to shun, 

Nothing of nature's make; 

And in his glowing wake 

A gladness, like the shine of happy eyes ! 

He owned what he found lovely : not a shell 

But had for him some music of surprise, 

Some colored secret that it longed to tell 

Softly to him alone, so laughter-wise. 

And where the drooping nightingale of song, 

Chanting no more with rapture of the rose, 

Ailed into anguish, pierced by the rude thorn, 

He rid her bosom of that throbbing wrong 

And left her thrilling, with her heart new-born, 

Joyfully winging 

Beyond the reach of woes, 



240 FRANKLIN PLATO ELLER 

Blissfully singing, 

As if all pain were stilled into repose 

And life no more should suffer scathe or scorn. 

Child of the morning-star, eternal child ! 

All that was fierce grew meek and strangely tame, 

Lulled by his whisper. Passions, grim and wild, 

Forgot in him their anger, and were mild 

Because 'he loved them, till his very name 

Was worn by many as a holy charm, 

A murmured amulet against all harm. 

For, swift as magic, his triumphant love 

Transformed the vulture greed into the dove, 

The tiger hate into the following fawn 

And what was dark into a sudden dawn. 

Oh ! he was sure blood-brother to the sun, 

Since every bud would blossom in bis eyes. 

His was the deed wherever good was done, 

Who coped with Life with such a mirth of might, 

As if in him the unwithholding skies 

Had poured a glorious potency of right. 

So through the world he glimmered like a dream, 
Virginal keeper of the joyous gleam ! 
And left behind a fragrance like that wind 
Blown from the bleeding balsam on the height; 
For healing was the mission of his mind. 
As to a living altar so he leaned, 
Robed for the sacrifice, from sadness weaned, 
Reason's young priest and burning acolyte ! 

He leaned, as to an altar, kindling fire, 

Then brother waved to brother, "come up higher !" 

And to that upper glory he went forth 

As one divining the unvisioned North, 



JOHN CARLTON ELLER 241 

Wrapping his youth about him. 

Still that place, 
Whence he ascended with a shining face, 
Is live with him, and still his mantle bright 
Over our darkness sheds undying light ! 

The prow is pointed and the Captain calls, 

And there is seen a waving on the walls 

Of long and last farewells. 

Now to the gales 

They give their sails, 

And mid a sound of bells, of bells, 

Of silver-sounding bells, 

As by a wind of music they are borne 

Gently through shadows to the shores of morn. 

Thus soul with brother soul, 
Brother with brother brightness, 
To God, the highest goal, 
Fares in a mist of whiteness. 

Oh happy so to fare, 
After the heart's soft cease, 
Upon a mere of peace. 
Deaf to the call of care 
And dead to all despair, 
Moving, as with no motion, 
Upon a soundless ocean ; 
Wafted on waters deep, 
As on a sea of sleep, 
Beyond the wail of wave, 
With nothing more to crave 
And nothing left to dare. 
To move and yet to lie 
Drowned in a dreaming sky! 

16 



242 FRANKLIN PLATO ELLER 

Becalmed by beauty, where, 

Drifting while winds are still, 

They need no pilot's skill 

Nor heed the helm of will ; 

But float as to a tryst 

And pass with veiled eye 

Orion, and descry, 

Like one who leaves a mist, 

The sister Pleiades, 

Like radiant charities 

To charm the soul to Heaven ! 

And also Seven Sanctities 

That stand like angels seven, 

Pausing before the Throne 

Till the Unknown is Known ! 

When from their hush shall all the patient choirs 

Lighten and leap and lift their singing fires! 

Oh ! never storm may blow 
On that unmurmuring mere, 
As to their goal they go, 
Faring from cloud to clear. 

There stars are dim and lights are soft and low 
And Death lies dead with self-inflicted sting; 
And Life is like a lover, whispering 
Of deathless love in the long afterglow. 

Now that the yellow sere 

Lays blight upon the year 

And all the trees their golden crowns have shed, 

I lay the last pale bloom 

Upon their seeming tomb, 

Whom death no more shall dungeon with the dead. 



JOHN CARLTON ELLER 243 

Oh ! nevermore shall change 

From hope their hearts estrange, 

And nevermore their peace one sorrow mar ; 

Now after day is done 

Beyond the set of sun 

They shine on us as shines the evening star. 

Leonard Van Noppen. 
Riverside, Conn. 
October the eighteenth, 1909. 



244 



FRANKLIN PLATO ELLER 



Appendix 



COLLEGE RECORDS FROM THE ORIGINAL 
ENTRIES OF THE REGISTRAR 



Franklin Plato Eller, Ph. B. (Degree) 



1889-90 














1st Year. 














1 Term. 


1 Math. 


88 


lLat. 


77 


lEng. 


96 




Hist. 


85 


lGer. 


74 






2 Term. 


1 Math. 


90 


lLat. 


89 


lEng. 


97 




Hist. 


95 


lGer. 


83 






2d Year. 














1 Term. 


2Lat. 


83 


Chem. 


80 


2Eng. 


93 




2Ger. 


77 


2 Math. 


74 


Phys. 


93 


2 Term. 


2Lat. 


86 












2Ger. 




Chem. 


79 


2Eng. 


88 








2 Math. 


72 


Geo. 


76 


3d Year. 














1 Term. 


Physics 


(a) 


3Lat. 


3 


3Eng. 


1 




Physiog 


. 2 


1 Saxon 


3 


2 Hist. 


3 




1 Hist. 


2 


Psychol. 


4 






2 Term. 


Physics 


4 


3Lat. 


4 


3Eng. 


1 




1 Hist. 


2 


1 Saxon 


2 


2 Hist. 


2 




Logic 


4 











JOHN CARLTON ELLER 



245 



COLLEGE RECORDS FROM THE ORIGINAL 
ENTRIES OF THE REGISTRAR 



John Carlton Eller, Ph. B. (Degree) 



1892-93 
1st Year. 

1 Term. 

2 Term. 



2d Year. 
1 Terra. 



2 Term. 



3d Year. 

1 Term. 

2 Term. 



4th Year. 
1 Term. 



2d term 
for degree. 



1 Math. 2 
Phys. 2 
IMath. 1 

2 
Physiog. 1 

1 



2 Math. 
Chem. 

1 Hist. 

2 Math. 

Chem. 
1 Hist. 



Psy. 

2 Hist. 
Psy. 



2 

2 Hist. 1 

1 



1 Lat. 2 

Elem. Phys. 3 
Elem. Phys. 2 

2 
1 Lat. 2 

1 



2 Lat. 
lGer. 

2 Lat. 
lGer. 



1 French 
2Ger. 
1 French 

2Ger. 



1 Eng. 1 

1 Eng. 1 

1 



2 Eng. 1 
ISax. 1 

2 Eng. 2 
1 

ISax. 1 
1 



3 Eng. 1 



Hrs. 



16 



16 



18 



18 



17 



1 Geol. 1 
3 Eng. 1 

1 
1 Geol. 1 

1 17 



Es. & Or. 1 Logic 2 Sci. Ed. 1 

4 Eng. 1 Phil. 1 His.Ed.l 

Polit. Ec. 1 3 Hist. 1 12 
marks not recorded; Logic and Sci. Ed. not needed 



JAN 23 1311 



One copy del. to Cat. Div. 
MAR 27 191 7 



LIBRARY OF 




029 785 124 A 



